Cisco to give $200m to Korea's Hanaro Telecom

Cisco Systems president and chief executive officer John Chambers last week signed a deal in Seoul that will essentially see his company give Hanaro Telecom, a local telecommunications carrier, $US200 million of networking equipment over the next three years.

Under the terms of the deal inked by Chambers and Hanaro Telecom President Yun Sik Shin, Cisco Systems will provide the Korean company with $200 million of funding over the next three years.

The money will be used to purchase networking equipment from Cisco, said Yun Ho Kim, a spokesman for Hanaro Telecom.

As part of the deal, which the two companies described as a "strategic alliance", Cisco will help Hanaro develop e-commerce business systems and also supply the company with business consulting, technology training and support.

Cisco officials were not immediately available to discuss further details of the deal.

The signing comes less than three months after Hanaro gave Newbridge Networks a $20 million contract to supply a local area broadband wireless network for Seoul.

Hanaro Telecom is a joint venture of more than 500 companies, including data communications carrier Dacom, the LG Group, Samsung Electronics, SK Telecom and Hyundai Electronics Industries.