November 26, 2009, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Severodvinsk: COMSTAR – United TeleSystems (COMSTAR-UTS, LSE: CMST), the leading provider of integrated telecommunication services in Russia and the CIS, announces that Severodvinsk Communication Services Center of COMSTAR-Regions North-West (COMSTAR-Regions is a fully owned subsidiary of COMSTAR-UTS) has completed the segment of the new fiber-optic network in Severodvinsk.

The network is 15 km long and covers over 4,000 apartments. Thus, COMSTAR-Regions continues upgrading networks in the cities of its presence across Archangelsk Region to improve the quality of existing services and launch new ones.

COMSTAR multi-service telecom network in Severodvinsk is built based on FTTB (Fiber-to-the-Building). This technology provides high network capacity and reliability as well as short time to market. FTTB networks enable wide range of services, including voice, data, broadband Internet, video streaming, video on demand (VoD) and virtual cinema, video surveillance, video calls, etc.

COMSTAR subscribers in Severodvinsk are provided with broadband Internet via dedicated fiber-optic Ethernet channel. This way of connection features the best performance and high speed. One more key advantage of Ethernet as compared to ADSL or previous generation cable networks is symmetric speed, i.e. data can be uploaded and downloaded simultaneously at the equally high speed.

“This is the first stage of network upgrade in Severodvinsk which will be completed in the first half-year of 2010. The activities will enable improved quality of existing services and will make it possible for new subscribers to connect to the COMSTAR network. We intend to provide city dwellers with a full range of triple play services in the future, including cable TV, broadband Internet and voice,” Denis Kramarenko, Commercial Director of COMSTAR-Regions North-West, notes.

Dmitry Zaytsev, Director of Severodvinsk Communication Services Center of COMSTAR-Regions North-West, adds, “Now, tenants of the connected houses can watch 49 cable TV channels, use advanced broadband services and make intercity and international calls provided by COMSTAR. We have also developed new attractive bundle rates.”