OREANDA-NEWS. On 17 June 2009 COMSTAR – United TeleSystems (COMSTAR-UTS, LSE: CMST), the leading integrated telecommunications operator in Russia and the CIS, announced that the branch of STREAM-TV CJSC (member of the Group of companies COMSTAR-UTS) in the city of Ivanovo has started provision of broadband Internet access (BBA) and also has increased the number of the broadcasted TV-channels for inhabitants of Kokhma city in Ivanovo region, on the base of its modernized network.

Subscribers’ connection to the services of broadband Internet access became possible as the result of telecommunications network modernization carried out by the company employing FTTB technology (Fiber-to-the-Building). This technology, that allows provision of BBA and digital TV services, is an up-to-date, reliable and the most popular technology in large and midsize cities. Specialists of Ivanovo branch of STREAM-TV plan to finalize the first phase of FTTB implementation until the end of Q2 Y2009.

At the moment, residents of a number of buildings at Vladimirskaya Str/ can already evaluate the advantages of the FTTB technology; in the nearest future the launch of the network is expected in the buildings at Vladimirskaya Str. and Moskovskaya Str.. To subscribers of STREAM-TV, who reside at the mentioned above buildings, will be available for watching not only the channels of cable TV packet "Modern" (34 channels), but also digital TV – packets "Avantgarde" (34 channels) and "Avantgarde-Private" (36 channels). Before that the city of Kokhma was connected to STREAM network via MMDS technology, and subscribers had an opportunity to watch channels that were included in the TV packet "Classics" (22 channels). Quantity of signal, transmitted in MMDS format, was inferior to the signal transmitted in fiber-optic networks, due to susceptibility to radio interference. Now, thank to the carried out network modernization, Subscribers of STREAM-TV in Kokhma city will be able to evaluate the high quality of new technologies and convenience of bundled services, when connecting to cable TV and Internet provided by a single operator.

"Phase-by-phase modernization of cable TV networks using FTTB technology in the regions of STREAM-TV presence is considered in the plan of technological development of the Group of companies COMSTAR-UTS", - says Andrey Petrov, Deputy CEO – Technical director of CJSC STREAM-TV". – At the same time, introducing new technologies, we, first of all, expand the range of the provided services to our current subscribers and improve the quality of the provided services ".

Vladimir Anisimov, director of the branch of CJSC STREAM-TV in the city of Ivanovo, noted: "Connection of new buildings as well as modernization of the existing network is carried out in a strict adherence to the approved technical strategy for the broadband Internet access networks development using "fiber-to-the-building" (FTTB) technology. At the moment, about 10% of all the households connected to our network are transferred to fiber-optic in the city of Kokhma. Next to be connected are buildings at Ivanovskaya, Vladimirskaya and Moskovskaya Streets".