AT&T announced on Wednesday that it is expanding its service reach into Vietnam.

AT&T is teaming with Viettel, a Vietnamese carrier that will support AT&T VPN and frame relay services to customers in Vietnam.

The services will run over Viettel’s network. The companies will work to link Viettel’s network with AT&T’s global network so that businesses in Vietnam can directly ride AT&T’s network outside the region.

AT&T made the announcement at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation CEO Summit 2006 in Hanoi today.

Chris Rooney, senior vice president of AT&T Operations, said in a statement that he expects availability of global services to multinational customers with interests in Vietnam will help fuel growth in that region. He went on to say "global enterprises require transnational communications support in order to function efficiently, and their decisions are influenced by the availability of a reliable communications infrastructure before they move into new markets.”

While the agreement is to support two services today, the carrier says additional AT&T offerings will be available to businesses in the region in the future.

AT&T says this expansion is part of the company’s overall global push. The carrier offers MPLS-based services in 137 countries and remote access in 149 countries.