Lattelecom and Golden Telecom Expand Capacity of Internet Links
Lattelecom, the leading provider of electronic communications services in Latvia together with Golden Telecom (NASDAQ: GLDN), the leading provider of integrated telecommunications services in Russia and other countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (“CIS”) have jointly launched a new high-speed Internet channel. The new channel enhances Internet traffic speed up to 1Gb/s between the two countries and benefits all Lattelecom clients.
Internet traffic from Latvia to Russia was previously routed indirectly through London and Frankfurt transit stages. All data directed from Latvia to St. Petersburg or Moscow was first sent to London and then routed to Russia. The new Internet channel is transmitted through Stockholm, which enables Internet information to reach Moscow from Riga in 36 milliseconds or more than twice as fast as before. The first beneficiaries of the high-speed channel launch are Lattelecom broadband Internet clients, who may use broadband for network-based computer games or to access Russian content.
The new connection supports file exchange programs and ensures access to content portals. It improves the quality of wholesale Internet services provided by Lattelecom to other professional Internet service providers in Latvia and Lithuania.
“We expect that the new connection will soon be appreciated by our broadband service clients, as well as Latvia’s professional Internet service providers, given the major proportion of Latvia’s communications traffic which goes to or from Russia,” said Lattelecom network director Valdis Vancovies.
“The signing of the agreement with Lattelecom on the new IP-transit channel encourages the economic cooperation development between Russia and Latvia,” says Andrey Patoka, Vice-President for the Company’s International and Regional Business unit.
About Golden Telecom:
Golden Telecom, Inc. (NASDAQ: GLDN) is the leading provider of integrated telecommunications and Internet services in the largest population areas of Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), with its own facilities and communications infrastructure. The Company offers telephony, data transfer and Internet access services to corporations, operators and private individuals through its existing networks in large cities, including Moscow, Kiev, St. Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod, Samara, Kaliningrad, Krasnoyarsk, Almaty and Tashkent, as well as through rented channels and fiber-optic and satellite communications networks, including roughly 293 combined access points in Russia and other CIS countries. The Company also offers mobile communications services in Kiev and Odessa.
Statements made in this press release are forward looking and are made pursuant to the provisions of the Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements include those on the expected capacity of the Internet channel, and announced Internet traffic speed. It is important to note that such statements involve risks and uncertainties, which may cause results to differ materially from those set forth in these statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the possibility that we are not able to expand the announced capacity and to achieve the traffic speed as we expected. Additional information concerning factors that could cause results to differ materially from those in the forward looking statements is contained in the Company’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including the Company’s quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, periodic reports on Form 8-K filed during 2007, and the Company’s annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2006.
About Lattelecom:
Lattelecom is the leading provider of electronic communications services in Latvia. The company offers integrated electronic communications and IT services, and it offers telecommunications, network design and installation services. Lattelecom also provides data transmission and IT infrastructure solutions, Internet and contact centre services, as well as outsourced business process services. There are six companies in the Lattelecom Group — Lattelecom, Lattelecom Technology and its subsidiary, the Baltic Computer Academy, Lattelecom BPO, Citrus Solutions and LSS.
For additional information please contact: Golden Telecom Public Relations: Lev Chentsov Email: Email Contact Tel.: +7 (495) 797-9300; Fax: +7 (495) 797-9332 Investor Relations: Alexey Subbotin Email Contact Tel.: +7 (495) 797-9300; Fax: +7 (495) 797-9331 www.goldentelecom.com Lattelecom For additional information please contact: Maija Celmiòa Lattelecom Group press secretary Email: Email Contact Tel.: +371-6705-5343; 29-273897 www.lattelecom.lv
SOURCE: Golden Telecom