Largest Korean Carrier Chooses Cisco Gear For Optical Network

Korea's largest fixed-line communications carrier, KT (formerly Korea Telecom) will be using Cisco Systems' ONS 15454 Multiservice Provisioning Platform (MSPP) to offer voice data and video services in the Seoul area.

Cisco signed on as a strategic equipment vendor for KT's five-year plan to deploy an optical transport system infrastructure that could deliver advanced network services. The deployment began with a service trial of KT's 2.5-Gbps/10-Gbps MSPP project, including deployment of Cisco's ONS 15454 in the Seoul area and serving international nodes.

"This project is to build an intelligent next-generation network through which KT can provide triple play services to its customers, enabling customers to enjoy the benefits of advanced network technology, while creating additional revenue streams for KT," Cisco operations director of North Asia service provider operations Nosung Park said in a statement. "We expect Cisco solutions to help KT deliver the services that KT's customers expect and lead the world in telecommunications service innovation."

KT selected Cisco on the basis of high scores in benchmark tests of the ONS 15454 MSPP. According to Cisco, the carrier also considered its Resilient Packet Ring (RPR) expertise and Layer 2 networking technology.