Rostelecom, Russia's national long-distance telecommunications operator, has joined Global Marine’s Guardian private cable maintenance program to be provided with total peace of mind about the Denmark Russia 1 undersea cable system.

The Company, together with TDC - the leading provider of communications solutions in Denmark, will benefit from a three year fiber-optic cable maintenance contract that is based upon mutually agreed performance metrics and a fixed price for the term of agreement. Under the contract, Global Marine Systems Limited is to carry out cable breakages, repairs and preventive operations by servicing the Denmark Russia 1 cable by its CS Sovereign and CS Sentinel, which are based at Portland Port, Portland, UK.

The Denmark Russia 1 undersea fiber-optic cable, provided Russia with connectivity to Western Europe for the last 14 years, stretches 1,216 kilometers from Karlslunde, Denmark, to Kingesepp, Russia.

Gennady Solovsky, Rostelecom’s Deputy General Director – Director for Network Operation and Technical Management, commented: "As both the volume of our incoming and outgoing international traffic continues to rise year on year, Global Marine’s cable maintenance services are critical in allowing us to accommodate the growing needs of our customers while keeping high quality levels."

Claus Nielsen at TDC said: "With Denmark’s geographic position as a hub for telecommunications between Eastern Europe and western countries, it was crucial that we selected a cable maintenance operator who could provide us with leading-edge industry know how and the complete peace of mind that our communications infrastructure would be in safe hands."

"Global Marine has worked with Rostelecom and TDC for some time on a consortium basis," said Chris Brooks, Director of Sales at Global Marine. "Increasingly private maintenance is becoming an important alternative for telecommunications providers who need to respond to increasingly complex market conditions. The Guardian private cable maintenance program has consistently set an industry benchmark over the past 3 years in terms of level of service and transparency of costs which it provides cable owners and operators."