April 20, 2009, Moscow, Astrakhan: COMSTAR – United TeleSystems (COMSTAR-UTS, LSE: CMST), the leading supplier of integrated telecommunication solutions in Russia and the CIS, announces that by the end of Q1 2009, Trunk, associated company of STREAM-TV Astrakhan (member of COMSTAR-UTS), had increased the total number of broadband Internet users up to 21,000. As compared with the beginning of the year, this means a 15,7 percent growth.

The key drivers for STREAM-TV Astrakhan broadband subscriber base are communication network upgrade and successful marketing strategy of the company. Today, all broadband users have a pay-TV subscription. The total number of cable TV users exceeds 52,000, thus, about 40 percent of subscribers use Double Play bundled service.

In 2008, STREAM-TV Astrakhan continued with communication network construction and upgrade. So, Internet services became available in the Sea Shipyard, Kirov Dockyard, Guzhvin Shipyard and South-East 2 regions. New backbone node in Astrakhan has enhanced user experience. The engineering activities resulted in a threefold increase in external channels capacity (up to 150 Mbps).

Besides, for the purpose of cable TV and broadband services promotion Trunk took special measures to attract new subscribers and increase loyalty of existing users as part of its general development strategy. The most successful moves include joint project with Mail.ru and federal campaign providing free network connection – The Best Way to Surf the Internet.