IBM opens Asean Telecom Center of Excellence

MANILA, Philippines - IBM has opened the ASEAN Telecom Center of Excellence (CoE) to accelerate telecommunications solution development and streamline product delivery in the region.

In a statement, the global technology giant said this will help ASEAN telecommunication service providers compete more effectively in the fast-changing market.

The center will bring together cutting-edge technical skills, specialized offerings and industry best practices to meet the rising challenges in ASEAN’s telecommunications industry.

Located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, the ASEAN Telecom CoE leverages IBM’s globally-integrated network of capabilities and partnerships. The CoE offers a range of new telecommunications software solutions based on IBM’s Service Provider Delivery Environment (SPDE) 3.0 framework, as well as hardware, services and business partner applications.

Clients will include telco operators, network equipment suppliers, independent software vendors (ISVs) and extended service providers.

“To sustain growth in this competitive industry landscape, service providers must offer customers a more positive and differentiated user experience while reducing complexity and cost,” said IBM Philippines country manager for telecom and utilities industry Rey Lugtu.

He said the CoE offers the ASEAN telco industry an unparalleled level of expertise and support to speed implementation and facilitate effective use of applications and technologies.

“This is very beneficial to the Philippines, wherein the telecommunications industry remains one of the more exciting and rapidly growing sectors in the country,” he added.

The CoE is staffed by technical and telecommunications experts with experience in deploying service creation, service delivery as well as business and operation support systems.

According to research firm IDC, the combined telecommunication services market of Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand, would reach $35.7 billion in 2009.

Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand were expected to show modest growth at a four percent to six percent range.

Vietnam and Indonesia, each with double-digit expansion rates, would demonstrate higher growth as they are at the early stages of the technology adoption curve and currently addressing the digital divide in their markets.

“By supporting ASEAN’s telecommunications service providers in innovation efforts which leapfrog traditional technologies plans to be world-renowned leaders, we have established a unique position in the industry. We will continue to help telecom providers improve their competitive capabilities by enabling them to combine their strategic assets with innovations that address new market opportunities,” Lugtu said IBM is one of the world’s largest technology suppliers to the telco industry. More than 90 percent of the world’s communications service providers are IBM clients.