News

Sumitomo Corporation, NEC Corporation and NTT Communications Corporation provide communications infrastructure in Myanmar
- Contributing to economic development and the operation of the SEA Games -

Tokyo, December 4, 2013 – A consortium of companies consisting of Sumitomo Corporation (Sumitomo; TSE: 8053), NEC Corporation (NEC; TSE: 6701) and NTT Communications Corporation have built communications infrastructure for the Republic of the Union of Myanmar (Myanmar) that improves internet connectivity and supports greater economic development. The consortium is providing operational support for the communications infrastructure until mid-January 2014, when the project is scheduled for completion. To commemorate the completion of the construction, a handover ceremony will be held in the capital Naypyidaw today.

The construction of this communications infrastructure was conducted under an agreement concluded on 14 May 2013 between the consortium and Myanmar’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) in support of the country’s "Emergency communications network improvement plan." The plan capitalizes on 1.71 billion yen in Official Development Assistance (ODA) that was granted to the government of Myanmar by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), an independent administrative agency, following requests from the Myanmar government for assistance from the Japanese government. This is the first infrastructure project in Myanmar that capitalizes on ODA from Japan since Japan’s adoption of a new economic cooperation policy towards Myanmar in April 2012.

The development of this network aims to improve Myanmar’s communications infrastructure to a level that rivals that of developed markets, while promoting economic revitalization and improving the quality of people’s daily lives. This infrastructure will contribute to smooth telecommunications during the 27th Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games) which will be held in Myanmar from 11 - 22 December 2013. As Myanmar’s international presence continues to increase, illustrated by events such as its selection to be the 2014 chairman of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the consortium aims to continue to support the development of Myanmar’s communications infrastructure.

Primary features of the communications infrastructure include the following:

• High-speed, high-capacity core optical transmission network capable of transmitting 30Gbps between the cities of Yangon, Mandalay and Naypyidaw
• LTE communications, fixed-line telephones and optical transmission networks capable of 10Gbps Internet transmissions within each city
• 50 LTE base-stations deployed within the three cities
• Introduction of state-of-the-art technologies within the communications bureau that include virtualized Evolved Packet Core (vEPC)* virtual mobile network solutions and DW7000 optical transmission equipment
• Infrastructure that supports the simultaneous use of services for approximately 40,000 LTE communication subscribers, roughly 1.5 million fixed-line telephone subscribers and about 1 million Internet communication subscribers
• Introduction of new backbone routers for Internet backbone duplication in Yangon, Mandalay and Naypyidaw
• Installation of international Internet connection points in Yangon and Naypyidaw
• Expanded functions and improved operations for Myanmar’s domestic ISPs

*See attachment for more information.

Notes:

(*) virtualized Evolved Packet Core (vEPC): A virtualized mobile core network solution that achieves Network Functions Virtualization (NFV), network functions on a virtualization infrastructure running on a commercial-off-the-shelf server hardware with Intel Architecture (IA). For more information, please visit the following URL: http://www.nec.com/en/press/201310/global_20131022_03.html

About Sumitomo Corporation

Sumitomo Corporation is a leading general trading company, headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, with 116 locations in 65 countries and 24 domestic locations. The Sumitomo Corporation Group consists of nearly 800 companies and more than 70,000 personnel, and its business is continuously expanding into a diverse range of products and services. Its core business units are Metal Products; Transportation & Construction Systems; Environment & Infrastructure; Media, Network, Lifestyle Related Goods & Services; and Mineral Resources, Energy, Chemical & Electronics.

For more information, please visit www.sumitomocorp.co.jp/english/

About NEC Corporation

NEC Corporation is a leader in the integration of IT and network technologies that benefit businesses and people around the world. By providing a combination of products and solutions that cross utilize the company’s experience and global resources, NEC’s advanced technologies meet the complex and ever-changing needs of its customers. NEC brings more than 100 years of expertise in technological innovation to empower people, businesses and society. For more information, visit NEC at http://www.nec.com.

About NTT Communications Corporation

NTT Communications provides consultancy, architecture, security and cloud services to optimize the information and communications technology (ICT) environments of enterprises. These offerings are backed by the company’s worldwide infrastructure, including leading global tier-1 IP network, Arcstar Universal One™ VPN network reaching 160 countries/regions, and over 150 secure data centers. NTT Communications’ solutions leverage the global resources of NTT Group companies including Dimension Data, NTT DOCOMO and NTT DATA.
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