Redback Networks, an Ericsson (News - Alert) company that makes video-centric routers for triple-play networks, announced this week an initiative intended to upgrade two billion wireless and wireline customers to full-service broadband by 2012.

 

The company intends to achieve this with distribution of its SmartEdge multi-service routers. Already 27 million broadband scribers in Asia are using these devices—15 million+ in China, 5.2 million in Korea, 2.6 million in Taiwan, 1.6 million in Thailand and 1.5 million in Japan.

 

Redback’s multi-service routing platform delivers next generation broadband services such as VoIP, IPTV (News - Alert), on-demand video and online gaming. The routers help telephone carriers handle a greater variety of data, voice and video services for residential and business customers.

 

The network applications managed by SmartEdge routers in Asia include high-speed Internet service, Web-telephony, and Ethernet aggregation (e.g., TV and video services).

 

“China and Greater Asia are building out their broadband infrastructures faster than any other part of the world,” said Herve Brunet, Redback’s vice president of sales and operations in Asia, in a statement. “The Beijing Olympics will open the world’s eyes to China’s advances in next-generation broadband infrastructure.”  

 

Redback claims that today it is managing more than 63 million broadband subscribers for 15 of the top 20 telephone companies worldwide, an increase of 13 million compared to 2006.

 

Top wireline carriers deploying SmartEdge include AT&T, British Telecom, China Telecom, China Netcom, ChungHwa Telecom (Taiwan), eAccess (Japan), France Telecom (News - Alert), Korea Telecom, Telefonica (Germany), and Turk Telecom.

 

In the coming months, Redback says it will begin deploying video-on-demand and other broadband services for Hong Kong’s PCCW, one of the largest IPTV carriers in the world.