United TeleSystems JSC, an integrated telecommunications operator in Russia and the CIS, said today that it’s selected Nortel equipment to develop the first mobile WiMax network in Moscow.

 

As per the plan, 160 base stations are expected to be built in Moscow by the end of 2008 and $20 million is expected to be invested.

 

The building of the IEEE 802.16e standard-based network has already started and is expected to be completed with Kvazar-Micro (now renamed as SITRONICS Information Technologies) acting as the equipment supplier and Intellect-Telecom as the project designer, according to the companies.

 

“The mobile WiMax network, which will be added to other broadband internet access technologies, will allow us to provide a very broad range of telecommunications services to our subscribers in Moscow, whether at home, in the office or on the street. The offering, which comprises a wide spectrum of unique solutions, will increase our subscriber loyalty and strengthen our position in the Moscow broadband internet access market,” said Sergey Pridantsev, president and chief executive officer of Comstar UTS.

 

Comstar UTS says it’s a fixed-line telecommunications company in Moscow. Comstar provides voice, data, television and other value-added services to residential and corporate subscribers and operators, using its extensive backbone network and exclusive last mile access to 97 percent of Moscow households, company officials say.

 

The company also says it offers communications services in five Russian regions, Armenia and Ukraine. Comstar had 3.6 million residential subscribers and 750 thousand residential broadband internet subscribers in Moscow, as well as 40 thousand residential regional and international broadband internet subscribers at the end of March 2008, according to the company.

 

Comstar generated $417 million of revenues and a 42.5 percent OIBDA margin for the twelve months ended December 31, 2007.