01/06/2006   PETERSTAR BRINGING WiMAX TO RUSSIA FROM THE WEST

In 2006 the PeterStar telecommunications company stirs to activity in Kaliningrad.

Since the date of launching its regional program ZAO PeterStar has invested over USD1.2 million in the development of the Kaliningrad telecommunications network

ZAO PeterStar – one of the leaders among alternative operators of the Northwest Region – continues to actively develop the telecommunications market of Kaliningrad. At the press conference that took place on Thursday, July 1, the first persons of the company told about basic achievements and the nearest plans of the company in the region. Besides within the framework of the event the opening-up of a new office in Kaliningrad was announced. “Kaliningrad is extremely attractive for investments in the telecommunications infrastructure, – said Victor Koresh, General Director of ZAO PeterStar – In spite of a high level of competition the wire communication infrastructure is developed poorly here, many sites haven’t been provided with telephone communication so far. Therefore we see wide development opportunities in terms of connecting business clients, i.e. the audience most demanding regarding the quality of communication services. We are also going to actively cooperate with construction firms on providing telephone communication in new dwelling houses, as well as rendering high-speed Internet access services. Soon we are going to launch testing services under a new wireless technology - WiMAX. In our opinion the implementation of WiMAX makes it possible to break through the communications market and provide a large number of Kaliningrad users with high-speed Internet access”. PeterStar will commence on WiMAX technology implementation in Kaliningrad during 2006. Interestingly, the Kaliningrad subscribers will be the first to appreciate the advantages of this new service, for in other regions of Russia PeterStar is planning to implement said technology later on. “To date this is an advanced technology based on a wireless communication principle. We believe that WiMAX represents the future of wireless technology, and the main argument proving this is its mobility and extremely high data rates. An undoubted advantage of WiMAX is a lower cost compared to other wireless technologies. WiMAX enables using terminals from different manufacturers with no dependence on a single equipment supplier. Moreover, this technology enables mobility, which will be estimated at its true worth by many our clients and partners”, -says Victor Koresh.

Since the beginning of regional program implementation in 2003 PeterStar has invested over USD1.2m in the development of the Kaliningrad affiliate. The affiliate was founded on the basis of ZAO Telecom Western Shipping Company after a 100% stake in the latter was acquired. A considerable part of said amount was spent on modernizing its telecommunications network. Some part of the investment was expended on opening a new office of the company in Kaliningrad, which is situated in the downtown. According to the forecast of specialists, the payback period of the investment in the region makes 4 years. At present Kaliningrad has its own transport network (fiber and copper) about 80 km in length, covering the city’s central districts. Within the scope of network modernization obsolete Quant exchanges are taken out of operation, a new modern ANS Ericsson switch is installed, new data and Internet access nodes are installed, based on equipment from well-known world manufactures such as Cisco Systems and Ericsson. The dealer network to sell Internet and calling cards in Kaliningrad counts 250 points. From August 2005 PeterStar provides In Kaliningrad Internet access services under ADSL technology, which converts a common analog telephone line into a high-speed digital one.

Besides this year the PeterStar affiliate in Kaliningrad has won a number of tenders on rendering advanced communication services to new dwelling complexes. Contracts are signed with builders such as Gradstroi, Don Stroi, Balt-Oliva, Urion. Pursuant to these contracts PeterStar will be serving over 500 new subscribers.

“At the beginning of our work we faced a lot of problems, - says Alexei Roschin, Director of the PeterStar affiliate in Kaliningrad, - In the first place those of a technical nature. We had to spend several months in order to replace obsolete equipment with new, expand the network capacity, and launch extra nodes for arranging data and Internet services. In Saint Petersburg PeterStar showed itself as a professional and reliable partner with a stainless reputation. We successfully “exported” business processes, standards and “secrets” of PeterStar from the northern capital in order to provide a high quality of communication and service here in Kaliningrad”.