AsiaWatch: Orange Alert!

India is still a main focus point for Asia/Pacific developments this week as the country heads toward the 500 million connections mark, but there are developments elsewhere in the region, including Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Hong Kong. (See Tata Takes Summer Subs Lead.)

Orange Business Services (OBS) has been beefing up its presence in Vietnam by setting up a direct sales and marketing operation as part of its strategy to grow in Asia/Pacific. Orange (NYSE: FTE) claims to be the only global operator to offer MPLS-based IP VPNs in Vietnam, and notes it has a local relationship with Vietnam Data Communication Co. (VDC) to deliver in-country services. (See OBS Sets Up Shop in Vietnam and Orange Boosts Asia/Pac Network.)

The Vietnam market is a hive of activity currently as the country heads toward a more open and competitive market, with WiMax and 3G rollouts a particular area of investment. (See Vietnam Moves Toward Open Market , WiMax Subbing for DSL in Vietnam, ZTE Takes 3G to Vietnam, Vietnam Mobile Picks NEC Backhaul, Moto Nabs 3G Contract in Vietnam, Vietnam Uses NSN for 3G, VDC Trials Mobile WiMax, and Top 10 Telecom Markets: Asia.)

OBS has also expanded its relationship with regional satellite communications firm SpeedCast, which is providing the carrier with "local testing facilities as well as installation and engineering support services." (See SpeedCast, OBS Team Up.)

Malaysian WiMax operator Packet One Networks (P1) believes it can double its customer base from 80,000 to 160,000 by the end of the year with a new promotion, according to Star Online. (See P1 Deploys Fujitsu Backbone.)

Pyramid Research expects WiMax operators to become the main Internet access challengers to incumbent carrier Telekom Malaysia Berhad . (See Telekom Malaysia Faces WiMax Challenge.)

There's further WiMax action in Indonesia, where national operator PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia Tbk. (Telkom) is gearing up to launch services in the first quarter of 2010, according to the Jakarta Post.

The Hong Kong Internet eXchange (HKIX) has deployed Nexus 7000 10 GigE switches to meet the demands of increasing Internet traffic volumes. (See HKIX Deploys Cisco Nexus.)

Of course, there's still plenty happening in India...

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. (BSNL) chairman Kuldeep Goyalb has been commenting on the possibility of joining a consortium that would invest in Zain, Reuters reports.

UTStarcom Inc. (Nasdaq: UTSI) has opened an IPTV Technology Center, designed to "take a lead role in the formation of India's IPTV regulation," and an IPTV Center of Excellence, to provide "post-sales support for all of UTStarcom's customers in the country." Both are based in Gurgaon.

UTStarcom has enjoyed a degree of success with its IPTV solutions in India: It is working with Bharti Airtel Ltd. (Mumbai: BHARTIARTL) in Delhi, with Aksh Optifibre Ltd. at BSNL in 20 cities across India, and with Aksh again to team with Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd. (MTNL) in Delhi and Mumbai. It has also announced IPTV deployments with United Telecoms Ltd. in India, and, just across the Palk Strait, with Sri Lanka Telecom . (See UTSI, Optibase Land Goa Gig, UTStarcom Wins India Deal, and Aksh Extends With UTStarcom.)

India's Wipro Ltd. (NYSE: WIT) has signed a "master co-development agreement" with Oracle Corp. (Nasdaq: ORCL) to develop solutions using Oracle's Application Integration Architecture (AIA), an "open, standards-based platform for business process integration across Oracle, third-party and custom applications." Wipro says it intends to develop "order to activate" tools for telecom service providers as part of its multi-industry developments. (See Wipro, Oracle Team on OSS.)

— Ray Le Maistre, International News Editor, Light Reading