HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam – 11 June 2015 – Cisco and the Management Authority for Urban Railways (MAUR) entered into an agreement to conduct a feasibility study relating to the Integrated Telecommunications Control Center for the Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) Urban Railways at the MAUR headquarters last week. This feasibility study, with funding for which being US$1.5 million, is being undertaken through a grant by the U.S. Trade and Development Agency to support MAUR's plan to acquire and implement information and communications technologies for the control center for HCMC's metro rail system. The project starts in June 2015 and is expected to be completed around November 2015.

The project aims to establish a strategic ICT plan, based on which MAUR will build an integrated telecommunications control system for its urban railway systems. This is to improve operational efficiency and management, and to provide seamless operation and connectivity with other public transportation systems such as bus, taxi, waterway transport etc. Additionally, Cisco will provide consulting services, ICT architecture recommendations, technical standards and guidelines, and submit an implementation proposal, to help realize MAUR's vision for Ho Chi Minh Urban Railways.

"The project is an important part of the strategic development of our urban railway systems starting with the readiness of the Metro 1 Ben Thanh – Suoi Tien line which is scheduled to operate in 2020. Cisco's world-leading ICT expertise is expected to provide one optimised and feasible solution to connect our urban railway systems for MAUR," Mr. Bui Xuan Cuong, Director of MAUR, commented.

"Cisco continues to be committed to the development of Vietnam's IT infrastructure and the applications of it to various facets of local lives. Cisco has a rich portfolio of relevant offerings such as Connected Rail, Intelligent Environment Management & Solutions, Smart+Connected™ City solutions, Smart Control solutions etc. Commitment to the utilization of world-class technology is very important as the adoption of technology innovations in our society has led to big gains for our country. Cisco strongly believes that the implementation and completion of this integrated ICT project will be the first step for the successful collaboration between Cisco and MAUR in the future to improve the city's ICT infrastructure. This will also significantly contribute to the transformation of HCM City into a connected and smart city," said Ms Luong Thi Le Thuy, General Director of Cisco Vietnam.