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Pacnet's CTO Wilfred Kwan talks about the trend increased collaboration and partnerships, which is the topic of his presentation on July 16

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Telecom Asia: What's your focus at the Broadband World Forum <‾xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = 'urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags' />Asia‾ 

Wilfred Kwan: I'll deliver keynote speech on Wednesday, 16 July at noon. The focus is "Carrier collaboration is the new paradigm". I'll share with the audience that the trend of collaboration goes beyond just coming together to build cables, but that as deals with large enterprises become more complex, more partnerships and collaboration are needed to close and support these deals. The age of the global carrier is over"&brkbar; your competitor today could be your partner or co-investror tomorrow"&brkbar;

Tell us about your expansion into China through the launch of a joint venture with China-based ISP Zhong Ren Telecom. 

Pacnet announced its strategic expansion into China through the launch of Pacnet Business Solutions, an equity joint venture withZhong Ren Telecom.

Under the terms of the agreement, Pacnet and Zhong Ren Telecom will each hold 50% of the equity interest. The strategic alliance will enable both companies to leverage each other's strengths to offer advanced telecoms services to small, medium and large enterprises in China.  This new joint venture also strengthens our local support capabilities and broadens our scope of offerings so that Pacnet China can deliver more value-added services to new and existing customers in all market segments.  

How does the JV position you to tap the expanding China broadband market‾   

Through our collaboration, Pacnet Business Solutions will leverage enhanced capabilities from both companies to deliver value-added communication solutions to businesses. Our customers will also gain the benefits of seamless international connectivity via Pacnet's EAC-C2C subsea cable network, which lands in Shanghai and Qingdao.

Pacnet's partner, Zhong Ren Telecom, has an IP-VPN license for Guangdong province and an established presence in Southern China and Beijing.

Prior to the signing of the agreement, Zhong Ren Telecom had a strategic partnership with Pacific Internet, which dates back to 2006. In January 2008, Pacific Internet was operationally integrated with regional subsea cable operator Asia Netcom to become Pacnet.  This collaboration marks a new chapter for Pacnet as we expand service options and solidify our position to support businesses in China. This is a win-win partnership which will enable us to deliver the best solutions for Chinese companies to compete in the global marketplace 

What's the reasoning behind your networking partnership with Airtel in India‾ Can we expect more of these‾  

The partnership leverages strong subsea cable assets of both companies to provide leading-edge solutions to business customers.  As we continue to see high growth in enterprise communication requirements to and from India, we are pleased to team up with Bharti Airtel in delivering seamless connectivity to our customers. This partnership will help strengthen our reach across all major business markets within India as well as provide customers with industry-leading communication solutions.