Mobile TeleSystems Belarus and Cisco Create Unique-for-Belarus Broadband Solution

MINSK, BELARUS – October 28, 2013 – Mobile TeleSystems (MTS) Belarus, leading mobile service provider in CIS, and Cisco announced a successful launch into commercial operation of a multi-vendor Fiber to the X (FTTx) project. In its framework MTS plans to connect 130,000 Belarusian households to the Internet using high-speed fixed broadband access network. For Cisco it is the first project in the territory of CIS where Broadband Network Gateway (BNG) functionality of Typhoon line cards for Cisco® ASR 9000 Series Aggregation Services Routers was used.

In order to optimize operating expenses (OPEX) and rationalize distribution of investment resources for the FTTx project, MTS set up its core network on the basis of existing transport infrastructure built and actively used for the delivery of 3G services. A unique topology of that network – which has no analogs in Belarus – makes it possible to process huge amounts of data and guarantee high quality of service to end users.

MTS chose field-proven Cisco ASR 9000 core routers for their exceptional performance combined with rich functionality to satisfy growing demand for bandwidth. Deployment of Cisco ASR 9000 routers expanded the capacity of the MTS transport network, raised the reliability and ensured comprehensive support for the IPv6 protocol.

Key Facts / Highlights:

• IPv6 was developed to solve the shortage of address space of its predecessor IPv4. IPv4 supports 4.3 billion unique global addresses, while the new protocol supports 3.4 x 10³⁸ = 340 trillion trillion trillion addresses – about 670 quadrillion addresses per square millimeter of the Earth’s surface. It means that IPv6 address space is almost unlimited.
• IPv6 provides end users with a number of benefits – first of all, with a sufficient number of direct static IP addresses needed to identify all user devices in a global network. The protocol makes it possible to supply every end user with a range of unique static addresses as well as assign a whole subnet large enough to support various devices: PCs, sensors, security appliances, video surveillance tools, etc.
• According to Cisco forecasts, by 2015 there will be almost 15 billion data generating devices in the world. By 2017 fast proliferation of such devices will boost IP traffic to 1.4 zettabytes, which is 14 times more than total global IP traffic in 2008. In this situation service providers must rely on new network technologies and advanced routing solutions capable of handling tremendous traffic growth and support new services.

Supporting Quotes:

Artsiom Maksimenka, head of network development department, MTS:

“The modern telecommunications market and ubiquitous proliferation of broadband technologies make service providers operate proactively. Full-scale implementation of IPv6 is one of the absolute prerequisites for operation of our fixed network that we are building from scratch according to state-of-the-art practices. While defining network topology, we paid attention to the fact that Cisco ASR 9000 routers deliver excellent performance for transport network and simultaneously support Ethernet services via IPv6. This solution is unique because we were able to deploy the required network services by just adding few software licenses without hardware upgrades. Long-term close cooperation between our companies helped us to deploy and optimize the FTTx commercial network within a very short period of time.” 

Eugeny Bryantsev, first deputy general director, MTS JLLC:

“The purpose of the data strategy of MTS Belarus is to make the company the best service provider in the country. However, it is impossible without timely modernization of existing infrastructure capable of supporting complex solutions which provide cellular communications, fixed and mobile Internet access, as well as additional services.” 

Vyacheslav Metelev, director, service provider sales, Cisco Russia/CIS:

“IPv6 is an absolute must for services providers who try to quickly offer broadband services to the broadest possible audiences. The capability of assigning direct IP addresses to any device will make us one step closer to the Internet of Things, which will enable people to interact with a wide range of usual objects. According to our forecasts, the number of connected devices will grow at a very high speed. That is why – when developing innovative solutions – Cisco always takes into account the requirements of scalability.”

Igor Bliznyukov, ASR 9000 product manager, Cisco:

“Current generation of ASR 9000 cards is a good example of product development strategy which focuses investments on solutions with unique performance and rich functionality. In particular, apart from supporting BNG and IPv6, the solution natively supports video monitoring, software defined networks (SDN) and close integration with optical solutions which helps significantly optimize the cost of network deployment and operation.”

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Supporting resources:

• Cisco
• Cisco ASR 9000 Series Aggregation Services Routers

About MTS, JLLC

Belarusian-Russian Joint Limited Liability Company “Mobile TeleSystems” (MTS, JLLC) offers cellular communications services in the Republic of Belarus from June 27, 2002.  Co-founders of MTS, JLLC are: MTS (Russia) and BelTelecom (Belarus). From October 2004, MTS has been the largest mobile operator in the Republic of Belarus by subscriber base.  From the end of 2005, it has been a service provider with the widest network infrastructure which supports high quality of service. At present MTS covers more than 97 percent of Belarusian territory where more than 99 percent of population reside. MTS, JLLC is a part of the MTS Group. In the second quarter of 2013 its subscriber base consisted of 5.26 million subscribers.

About Cisco

Cisco (NASDAQ:CSCO, news, filings) is the worldwide leader in IT that helps companies seize the opportunities of tomorrow by proving that amazing things can happen when you connect the previously unconnected. For ongoing news, please go to http://thenetwork.cisco.com. Cisco equipment in Russia is supplied through its authorized channel partners by Cisco Systems International BV, a wholly owned subsidiary of Cisco Systems, Inc.

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