Comstar Launches Backbone Support Ring of Transport Network in Moscow Region

MOSCOW--(BUSINESS WIRE)--“COMSTAR – United TeleSystems” JSC (“Comstar” or “the Group”) (LSE: CMST.L), the largest integrated telecommunications provider in Moscow and 69 Russian cities, today announced that it has completed and launched the backbone support ring of its transport telecommunications network in the Moscow region.

The total length of the NGN network’s new fibre-optic lines connecting the ring’s telecommunications facilities exceeds 180 km. Within the framework of the project launched in 2008, Comstar’s engineers have installed 44 10-Gigabit Ethernet ports and 264 Fast Ethernet ports which enable a data transmission speed capacity of 10 Gigabits per second. The transport network’s support ring consists of 11 backbone nodes. The overall investment in the project amounted to over RUR 111 million (US$ 3.4 million).

Comstar has received permission from the Federal Service for Monitoring of Communications, Information Technologies and Mass Communications of the Russian Federation to start operating the telecommunications facilities which have been built as a part of the first stage of the Comstar’s transport network construction project in the Moscow region.

Dmitry Dronov, Director of Comstar’s Moscow Regional Branch, commented: “Comstar’s Moscow Regional Branch has completed the most important stage of the transport network construction project in the Moscow region. This network presents one of Comstar’s key competitive advantages, and the network support ring will be used in the future to attach fibre-optic lines connected to remote regional towns. We are planning to complete the construction of Comstar’s multiservice transport network by 2013. This project will enable Comstar to provide reliable, high quality telecommunications services to almost all towns of the Moscow region. Local residential subscribers, state organisations and private companies will benefit from the provision of up-to-date telecommunications solutions, including digital telephony, pay-TV and broadband internet access. In addition, Comstar will be able to rent out its channels and provide interconnection services to local telecommunications operators almost on the whole territory of the Moscow region.”

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For further information, please visit www.comstar-uts.com

Comstar-UTS is the leading fixed-line telecommunications company in Moscow. Comstar provides voice, data, television and other value-added services to residential and corporate subscribers and operators, using its extensive backbone network and exclusive last mile access to 97% of Moscow households. The Company also offers communications services in five Russian regions, Armenia and Ukraine. Comstar had 3.6 million residential subscribers and 795 thousand residential broadband internet subscribers in Moscow, as well as 310 thousand residential regional and international broadband internet subscribers and 1.9 million residential regional pay-TV subscribers at the end of March 2009. Comstar generated US$ 334.4 million of revenues and a 37.8% OIBDA margin for the three months ended March 31, 2009. Comstar’s Global Depositary Receipts are listed on the London Stock Exchange (ticker: CMST).

Some of the information in this press release may contain projections or other forward-looking statements regarding future events or the future financial performance of Comstar UTS. You can identify forward looking statements by terms such as “expect,” “believe,” “anticipate,” “estimate,” “intend,” “will,” “could,” “may” or “might”, the negative of such terms or other similar expressions. Comstar UTS wishes to caution that these statements are only predictions, and that actual events or results may differ materially. Comstar UTS does not intend to update these statements to reflect events and circumstances occurring after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. Many factors could cause the actual results to differ materially from those contained in projections or forward-looking statements of Comstar UTS, including, among others, general economic conditions, the competitive environment, risks associated with operating in Russia, rapid technological and market change in the industries Comstar UTS operates in, as well as many other risks specifically related to Comstar UTS and its operations.

Comstar UTS
Masha Eliseeva
Tel: +7 985 997 0852
ir@comstar-uts.ru
or
Shared Value Limited
Matthew Hooper
Tel. +44 (0) 20 7321 5010
comstar@sharedvalue.net