Riverstone Networks Inc. today announced that DACOM, Korea's second largest telecommunications provider, has deployed Riverstone's RS family of routers to expand its metro Ethernet network throughout Korea.
In December, DACOM acquired a 45.5-percent controlling stake in PowerComm, the cable network arm of state-owned utility Korea Electric Power Corp. With the acquisition, DACOM expands its network with PowerComm's national fiber-optic network, enabling it to better compete with KT, Korea's leading telecommunications provider.
With a rapidly increasing subscriber base and plans for network expansion to handle online gaming and other bandwidth-intensive traffic, DACOM recently deployed Riverstone's RS 8600 routers in its network to connect gaming parlors and deliver Ethernet services to residents throughout South Korea. Riverstone's RS 8600 routers complement an earlier deployment of RS 38000 and RS 3000 routers in DACOM's metro Ethernet network. In January, PowerComm deployed Riverstone's RS family of routers in Korea's largest metropolitan network build out and recently expanded its all-Ethernet metro network to 64 districts throughout Korea.
DACOM is delivering high-speed residential Internet access services over its fiber-to-the-home and cable networks while its online gaming network connects player at a maximum speed of 100 Mbits/sec. DACOM is also providing Ethernet-based Internet access services to several leading Korean universities.
According to research firm Point-Topic, South Korea has a 54 percent broadband penetration rate, the highest in the world. The Korean Ministry of Information and Communication recently estimated that by 2005, 100 percent of Korean households will have a broadband Internet connection. To reach that goal, the Ministry estimates that Korean telecommunications companies will spend approximately $11 billion to deploy new broadband networks by 2005.