Etisalat chooses Juniper's high-performance IP routers

Emirates Telecommunications Corp (Etisalat) has signed a multi-million dollar contract with a Silicon Valley networking company that will deploy the high-tech equipment for the next generation Internet Protocol (IP) in the UAE, enabling speedier and more efficient IP services.

The California-based Juniper Networks, which will install the IP backbone through its high-performance IP routers, is also in talks with neighbouring Gulf countries and India, Dr. Pradeep Sindhu, founder and chief technology officer, said yesterday.

Along with local partner Alpha Data, Juniper plans to set up support and service operations in the Middle East. "Juniper will be at the core of Etisalat's huge investments in next-generation IP infrastructure," he said.

"This is Juniper's first market in the region and the UAE will be a stepping stone to other markets," Sindhu said. A five-year-old company, Juniper holds 40 per cent of the $6 billion global market for next-generation IP networks. Some 65 per cent of sales are in the U.S. and the rest in Europe and the Far East.

"Our high-performance IP routers using hardware-based forwarding unlocks the true potential of IP to carry multimedia traffic types and deliver value-added Smart IP services for the first time," he said.

Alpha Data Managing Director Fayiz Ibinni said the partnership with Juniper was of strategic importance. Alpha Data had accordingly made considerable investment in bringing Juniper to the region and training staff on the installation and maintenance of M-series router products.