Sky Link and Lucent deploy 1xEV-DO network in Krasnodar

August 31, 2006

Sky Link, the largest CDMA450 operator in Russia and Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), and Lucent Technologies announced they are increasing the voice capacity of the Sky Link network in Krasnodar and enhancing it with CDMA2000 1xEV-DO technology. OAO Krasnodar Cellular Network, the regional Sky Link operator, and Lucent are upgrading existing Lucent base stations with CDMA2000 1xEV-DO technology and installing new equipment that will enable the operator's Sky Turbo service, which provides data speeds of up to 2.4 Megabits per second. The project is beginning in the cities of Krasnodar, Sochi, and Novorossisk.

"Sky Turbo brings new, profitable multimedia services to the region and will help grow Sky Link's reputation as a full-service 3G operator," said Alexandr Piotrovsky, deputy general director of strategic marketing and sales for Sky Link. "The high data speeds enabled by CDMA2000 1xEV-DO - the main advantage of CDMA450 compared to the 2G standards - enables the proliferation of 3G services in the regional markets."

"Subscribers in the Krasnodar territory and Adygea are the leaders in terms of mobile data consumption on Sky Link's network," said Michael Mochulsky, general director of Sky Link-Krasnodar. "In July, the share of non-voice services in our revenues grew up to 48 percent. The powerful Sky Turbo service delivers an enhanced mobile data experience to our subscribers and our main task is to make the access to the new services as convenient as possible."

Within the project's framework, existing Lucent base stations are being upgraded with CDMA2000 1xEV-DO channel cards and software. The Lucent Radio Network Controller (RNC) is being deployed to ensure a flexible and scalable management of the network's RF (radio frequency) resources. Lucent Worldwide Services is providing installation and integration services.

"Every time we introduce EV-DO technology in the Russian markets, we see how it helps operators gain significant momentum via the introduction of new high-speed mobile data services," said Dmitry Kamensky, managing director, Lucent Technologies Russia and CIS. "Operators that have deployed the technology are able to offer their subscribers various new, revenue-generating services."

The EV-DO based Sky Turbo service delivers high-speed mobile data services and Internet access to Sky Link's subscribers. It features the highest mobile data speeds available in Russia. The Sky Turbo service was commercially launched in December 2005 in the Sky Link-Moscow and Sky Link-St. Petersburg networks simultaneously. In March 2006, the Sky Link-Ekaterinburg network's subscribers were granted access to the service.

Trial tests demonstrated that Sky Turbo enables subscribers to download files at average data speeds of 600-700 kilobits per second given standard network load conditions. The advanced wireless broadband Internet access and data transmission technology provides Sky Link's subscribers with fast downloading of Internet content and large files, e-mail, IPTV, and remote video surveillance services.

The Sky Link network is based on the IMT-MC-450 standard (CDMA2000 1X and 1xEV-DO technology deployed in the 450 MHz frequency range), which provides advanced digital mobile communication services to subscribers -- reliable, high-quality voice communication with the highest degree of unauthorized access protection, and high-speed data services including Internet access.