Alcatel-Lucent and Rostelecom launch operations of ultra-broadband data transport across Russia

Paris, November 6, 2013 – Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU), and Rostelecom,Russia’s leading national service provider, have announced the operational launch of the Europe-Persia Express Gateway (EPEG) project across Russia.

Following extensive project testing, the Russian section of the network will be put into commercial operation, enabling Rostelecom to offer ultra-broadband transit across Russia, and helping it meet growing global demand for broadband and other data services.

Spanning more than 3,500 kilometers of Russia from the Ukraine border to Azerbaijan and Georgia, the network boosts capacity up to 8 terabits per second (Tbps) over a single optical pair, each the width of a human hair.

Key facts:

• Rostelecomis one of four leading telecommunications operators in a consortium representing four countries that, in 2011, signed an agreement to build and run a new cable system – the Europe-Persia Express Gateway (EPEG).
• EPEG is a high-capacity fiber-optic cable system connecting Europe with the Middle East and the Persian Gulf countries, with possibility of further extension to the Indian subcontinent
• The project was launched to provide an alternative high capacity terrestrial data route to the undersea data links across the Red Sea, Suez Canal, Egypt and the Mediterranean Sea regions.
• Rostelelecom and Alcatel-Lucent have completed and put into operation the Russian section of the EPEG project, supporting the superfast distribution of international voice and Internet data across the country.
• Alcatel-Lucent supplied Rostelecom with its 1830 Photonic Service Switch (PSS) product family, supporting 100G and offering exceptional capacity and speed when transporting very large amounts of data over long distances, while simplifying operations and cutting costs.
• The 1830 PSS family of fiber-optic data transportation systems is a key element of The Shift Plan, Alcatel-Lucent’s industrial strategy to become a specialist vendor of IP Networking and Ultra-Broadband Access.

Quotes:

Eugeniy Sekerin, Executive Director of Telecom Operators department of Rostelecom said: “It is expected that in the international market the amount of transit traffic from the Middle East and India to Europe will grow dramatically in the near future and the new EPEG high-speed optical data backbone network will help meet that demand today and for years to come by relying upon the shortest route.”

Alexander Tikhonov, Country Senior Officer, Alcatel-Lucent in CISsaid: “We are very pleased to have been able to work with Rostelecom in the EPEG project and to complete this very important link in the territory of Russia. Our 100G technology helps operators build high-capacity backbone networks and dramatically increase the speed of data transfer while reducing the cost per bit.”

About OJSC Rostelecom

Rostelecom (www.rostelecom.ru) is Russia’s largest national telecommunications operator with presence in all Russian regions. The Group is a universal operator and the undisputed leader of broadband and pay-TV markets in Russia with over 9.6 million fixed-line broadband subscribers and over 6.9 million pay-TV subscribers. As Rostelecom develops its mobile data networks, its position as a major mobile operator is growing with over 13.8 million currently subscribed to Rostelecom’s mobile voice services. The Group is also an important innovator providing solutions in the field of medicine, E-Government, cloud computing and education.

Rostelecom was assigned a ‘BBB-’ and ‘BB+’ international credit ratings by Fitch Ratings and Standard & Poor’s respectively, both with a ‘Stable’ outlook. The Group generated RUB 154.1 billion of consolidated revenues, RUB 57.7 billion of OIBDA (37.4% of revenues) and RUB 13.7 billion of net income for the first six months ended June 30^th, 2013.