Juniper Opens Facility in India

SUNNYVALE, Calif. -- Juniper Networks, Inc. (Nasdaq:JNPR - News) today opened a new technical center in Bangalore, India and announced the expansion of its Technical Certification Program to give Indian candidates local training and certification for a wider range of Juniper Networks qualifications.

"Today's announcements underscore our growing profile in the Indian market," said Ashok Krishnamurthi, executive vice president, Product Development, Juniper Networks. "We have customers in India ranging from incumbent carriers to private operators and Internet data centers, and mobile service providers to Internet service providers. By training IP professionals and providing sophisticated in-country laboratory facilities, we are investing in the future of India's IP infrastructure."

The new Bangalore facility is located in Austin Town near Bangalore's central business district and will focus on software development and systems testing. The center's laboratory will support Juniper Networks product development by testing systems for the company's routing solutions.

The company also said that it will appoint a Juniper Networks certified training partner in India to extend the training and certification available to IP professionals. To date, Indian IP engineers have had access to the first two of four tiers of the Juniper Networks Technical Certification Program (JNTCP). The expanded Indian program will make all four tiers available and will provide classroom-based training in a laboratory environment.

"We are currently identifying a training provider with the appropriate coverage and technical expertise to provide training to meet Juniper Networks international standards," said Paul McNulty, customer service director, Asia Pacific. "Several providers have been identified and we expect to announce the appointment of a training partner in India very soon with a view to making the expanded program available in India later this year."

The new provider will offer introductory courses on the M-, T- and E-series routing platforms, broadband and circuit aggregation, and advanced courses covering Juniper Networks entire routing platform portfolio.

Java Girdhar, Juniper Networks country manager for India and the countries of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), said the IP networking sector in India was growing rapidly and there was strong demand for a professional qualification standard that is recognized throughout the industry.

"India's carriers and service providers can only benefit from the internationalizing of the country's IP networking skills base," said Girdhar.

Juniper Networks Inc.