Stories by David Legard

IBM expects $2USB from GES distribution deal

IBM signed Singapore-based GES International as an IBM Technology Group partner on Wednesday in a deal that IBM said had the potential to generate S$3 billion ($US1.78 billion) in sales over the next five years.

Vietnam signs overseas GSM roaming deal with Telstra

Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications (VNPT) has started to integrate the country into regional cellular phone operations with the signing of a GSM (Global Systems for Mobile communications) roaming agreement with Australia's Telstra Corp.

Lucent: China to spend $US100B on telecoms upgrade

China is expected to invest $US100 billion ($A155 billion) over the next five years upgrading all aspects of its telecommunications systems as increased market deregulation creates massive demand, according to a senior Lucent Technologies executive.

SGI Expects Return to Profitability, Exec Says

Struggling hardware vendor Silicon Graphics Inc. (SGI) will return to consistent profit-making in the second half of this fiscal year after completing a major overhaul of its business strategy, a senior company official said here today.

StorageTek seeks Asian ISP business

Storage Technology (StorageTek) is targeting ISPs (internet service providers) and telecommunications companies in Asia as possible pioneers of a new internet business -- as providers of backup data storage for small and medium-sized enterprises.

Vietnam Official: ASEAN Must Build Up Telecoms

The ten ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries must rapidly develop their telecommunications networks to avoid missing out on the global information age, according to Mai Liem Truc, secretary-general of Vietnam's Department General of Posts and Telecommunications (DGPT).
Speaking at the fifth annual meeting of the ASEAN Telecommunications Regulators' Council in Hanoi last week, Truc said that deficiencies in telecommunications networks would worsen imbalances within ASEAN and increase the gap between developed and developing nations.

SingTel sells stake in Norwegian mobile telco

National carrier Singapore Telecommunications (SingTel) has sold its entire 19.6 per cent stake in Norwegian mobile phone operator NetCom ASA in order to focus on its investments in the Asia-Pacific region, the company announced on Tuesday.
SingTel has sold its holding in NetCom to Danish company Tele Danmark A/S for 2.68 billion kroner ($A590 million) and plans to use the funds for expansion or extra investments in the Asia-Pacific region, company officials said on Tuesday. SingTel's initial investment in NetCom was $S69.5 million ($A64 million), SingTel officials said.

Malaysia Deploys OC-48 Internet Backbone

Malaysia has improved its potential Internet connectivity by a factor of 10 with the deployment of an OC-48 (Optical Carrier) backbone capable of transmission speeds of 2.5 gigabits per second, according to U.S. network vendor Cisco Systems Inc.
The new Super Jaring backbone, which runs from the northern high-tech manufacturing island of Penang, through the capital Kuala Lumpur, to the southern tip of the country bordering Singapore, is part of the Jaring project which has provided the country with Internet connectivity over the past seven years.

UUNet Becomes First Foreign IXSP in Singapore

MCI WorldCom Inc.'s UUNet division has taken advantage of newly liberalized regulations in Singapore's Internet market to become the first wholly foreign-owned entity to offer Internet connectivity here, UUNet announced yesterday.
The company is responding to moves made by the country's regulatory body Telecommunications Authority of Singapore (TAS) to waive a policy which requires 51 percent Singaporean ownership of any company in the telecommunications and Internet fields.

[]