IP TV provided by OJSC N.W.Telecom under the Avangard TV trademark is one of the extra services of broadband Internet access, the development of which is an area of Company’s close attention. OJSC North-West Telecom is both expanding the geography of providing the Avangard TV service which is already available to residents of 4 regions of the North-West and purposefully developing the content (increasing the number of TV channels and regularly updating the film collection of the Video On Demand service), upgrading the interface to make the service more convenient and attractive for subscribers.

In the second half of 2009, another three digital television channels became available to subscribers of Avangard TV:

- KHL (Continental Hockey League) - a new specialized sports channel that has supplemented the base Premiera (First Night) package. It most fully, promptly and topically covers all events of the Continental Hockey League;

- Deutsche Welle is a German TV channel for the entire family, which is broadcasted in German and covers various aspects of European life. It is interesting first of all to the German-speaking audience and to those who learn German. Emphasizing the “niche” channels, OJSC N.W.Telecom offers this channel in the expanded package, Bolshaya Premiera (Grand First Night);

- Russian Information Channel Vesti 24, a part of the Bolshaya Premiera expanded package is the only Russia n Information Channel broadcasting round the clock, it covers all world news and regional news of Russia and offers its audience analytical programmes and interviews with influential persons.

In October this year the film collection of the Video On Demand service was supplemented with more than 10 films, including: Taras Bulba, Crank 2: High Voltage, and a lot of other films. All in all, from the moment the Avangard TV service was launched for commercial operation, the number of offered products increased more than one and a half times. Today more than 160 films and programmes on various subjects are available for viewing, their number constantly increasing.

Besides, OJSC N.W.Telecom is actively working with content suppliers, among other things, for expanding the possibilities of interactive control of viewing the programmes broadcasted by TV channels. Thus, in June the list of the channels supporting the Network Tape-recorder and TV Archives service was supplemented with another two: Free-X TV and X-Dream TV.

In November 2009 the interface of the Avangard TV digital television service underwent serious changes, too. The updated design concept of the user interface is now presented in the form of a suspended TV set. It is distinguished by visualization, functionality, convenience and simplicity in use, which sometimes are the decisive factors in the choice of a subscriber. Besides, the speed and fault tolerance of the interface have significantly increased.

‘Offering the Avangard TV digital television service to our subscribers, we stake on the legal professional video content,’ O. V. Popov, Deputy General Manager, Commercial Manager of OJSC N.W.Telecom, notes. ‘We help users of Avangard TV find their bearings in the world of digital television. The systematic updating of the video library, the increasing number of channels and the upgrading of the interface are logical and expected steps in improving the Avangard TV digital television service. The plans of the company for the year 2010 include supplementing the packages with TV channels operating in the HDTV broadcasting format.’

Detailed information on the Avangard TV service, TV channels, extra services and rates is available on the product web site avangard-tv.ru.

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Avangard TV is a complex of interactive multimedia services provided on the basis of IP technologies via broadband communication networks. In December 2007 commercial operation of the Avangard TV service started in St. Petersburg, and in November 2009 the Komi branch became the fourth branch of OJSC N.W.Telecom where this service has been implemented (besides, Avangard TV is also successfully functioning in Novgorod Oblast and Kaliningrad). At the moment, more than 12,000 subscribers of the Company use IP TV. 67 various satellite and air channels (specializing in news, sports, films, music and many other things) are available to the subscribers of Avangard TV.