Cambodian businesses may soon enjoy network connectivity at greater speeds as Nokia Oyj and SINET – a registered trademark of local company SI Group Co Ltd – team up to deploy the Finnish technology company’s XGS Passive Optical Network (PON) solution to service the burgeoning demand for ultra-high-speed broadband.
XGS-PON technology is capable of providing symmetrical – downstream and upstream – shared internet access rates of up to 10 gigabits per second (Gbps).
“Nokia’s XGS-PON solution will be initially deployed in the capital city of Phnom Penh before being expanded to other cities and regions. Once deployed, SINET’s future-ready network will be able to address the demand for more capacity and support new use cases, such as smart cities and 5G backhauling,” Nokia said in a statement on July 28.
“The deployment, which includes the upgrade of the existing Nokia fibre access nodes, will be completed in 2022,” it said.
SINET chief technical officer Diep Kong said in the statement: “As the digital ecosystem becomes all-pervasive, enterprises need exceptional network reliability along with ultra-high speed. We are committed to providing a world-class network experience to their business users so they are able to deliver the best possible services to their customers.
“We are already using Nokia’s GPON solution and are confident that its field-proven XGS-PON solution will allow us to provide a differentiated experience to Cambodia’s enterprises.
“Nokia has received the Type Approval of XGS-PON equipment from the Telecommunication Regulator of Cambodia [TRC], which proves us the quality of the solution and the readiness to deploy in the Cambodia market,” he added.
Nokia head of Thailand and Cambodia Ajay Sharma underscored that the company’s technological solutions will help improve the speed and quality of broadband service for SINET’s users.
“We are excited that SINET has reaffirmed its confidence in our solution. Our industry-leading XGS-PON solution will allow SINET to improve the overall speed and quality of broadband for its enterprise users, which will help them grow their revenues and attract new customers.
“The enterprise users will benefit from an increase in network capacity, speed and reliability,” the statement quoted him as saying.
The statement added that Nokia’s fibre access solution is powered by its Quillion chipset, “which concurrently supports three generations of PON technologies: GPON, XGS-PON and 25G PON. It is 50 per cent more energy efficient than the previous generation of chipsets, allowing the service providers to reduce operational expenditure”.
TRC data showed that as of April, Cambodia has 44 internet service providers (ISP), five mobile operators, six landline operators, two international gateways, 10 Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) providers, one satellite company, two telecoms tower companies, two submarine cable firms, three fibre optic companies, one value-added network (VAN) and one toll-free number provider.
