OREANDA-NEWS. On 13 August 2009 COMSTAR – United TeleSystems (COMSTAR-UTS, LSE: CMST), the leading supplier of integrated telecommunication solutions in Russia and the CIS, announceв completion and commercial launch of the multi-service telecommunication network based on the Fiber-To-The-Building (FTTB) technology in Sochi.

The southern branch of COMSTAR-UTS set upon construction of the metro fiber-optic network (FON) in Sochi in 2008; starting from December, the network was running in the test mode (for further details, please click here) and was commissioned in June 2009. It covers 57 apartment buildings in the Central District of Sochi and it is intended for some 3,400 flats.

During construction, a transport network has been created to reach city dwellers’ houses equipped with dedicated switching equipment, coaxial cable to provide cable TV services, and twisted pair cable (Ethernet) to ensure broadband Internet and voice services. FTTB network provides data speeds up to 100 Mbps.

The company has already set upon provision of services based on the FTTB network built in Sochi: cable TV service with a package of 50 channels has already been launched, and in the Central District of Sochi subscribers may already enjoy broadband Internet.

In order to connect Sochi dwellers to broadband Internet, COMSTAR-UTS has developed and introduced both unlimited price plans and megabyte-based price plans, depending on the traffic volume.

Before the end of this year, the company is planning to provide access to FTTB-enabled telecom services to at least 3,000 flats having thus occupied up to 10% of the broadband market and 15% of the cable TV market in the city.

Viktor Koresh, COMSTAR-UTS Vice President for Regional Development, says: “Launching of the FTTB network in Sochi is an important event both for COMSTAR-UTS and for the host of the Olympic Games. As a matter of fact, we have approached the new market here – a segment of communication services for individual users. Today we can appreciate optimistically our potential market share because of the level of penetration of broadband Internet and paid-TV services. Currently, the local market has nearly no bundled services “two in one” – TV and high-speed Internet services in a single package by the same operator. We have been one of the first operators to provide this package based on our new FTTB network in Sochi, and we are soon intending to provide full-fledged Triple Play services by supplementing the current offer with fixed voice services. Now, we are also planning to build multiple access FTTB networks in other districts of the city.”