Kyivstar Expands Its Service Capability With Cisco Technology

KIEV, UKRAINE--(Marketwire - October 22, 2008) - Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) today announced that leading Ukrainian mobile operator Kyivstar has completed an upgrade of its optical network based on Cisco's dense wavelength-division multiplexing solution. DWDM is a method of transmitting multiple signals over one fiber-optic line, thus increasing a network's bandwidth. The implementation enhances Kyivstar's service capability with a technology that offers the highest levels of quality, flexibility and scalability and helps enable it to provide reliable communications services to its subscribers throughout Ukraine.

Kyivstar's backbone includes more than 17,000 kilometers of optical cable connecting all Ukrainian regional centers as well as big cities and resorts. It is a unified network with more than 11,000 base stations. Every city has at least two independent traffic routes that help ensure the reliability and availability of the network. Having its own extensive network, the company is able to provide fast and high-quality service for large volumes of mobile traffic.

"At Kyivstar, we aim to provide a reliable, high-quality communications experience at a reasonable price to meet the needs of our 24 million subscribers across the country. Therefore, developing our network and improving its performance are of great importance to us," said Jozsef Huszlicska, Kyivstar's chief technology officer. "To ensure the highest quality of services, we are building a reliable platform: a backbone based on cutting-edge networking technologies like DWDM."

Over the past few years, Kyivstar has experienced a significant growth in its subscriber base, longer call durations, the emergence of new services and a significant increase in the demand for mobile Internet. To address its customers' need for greater bandwidth, the company decided to implement a nationwide optical DWDM backbone that enables simultaneous voice and data transfers through different channels and at different speeds. The Cisco® ONS 15454 Multiservice Transport Platform was used for upgrading existing networks to considerably increase their traffic capacity and to minimize outages.

As a result of the DWDM implementation, Kyivstar has already increased its network capacity eight fold since 2006 and is ready to accommodate additional capacity increases. Kyivstar's 320 Gbps backbone is now one of the largest countrywide networks in Ukraine. Thanks to the DWDM technology, it is possible to increase the capacity of the backbone without interrupting existing services, which is crucial for the country's largest mobile operator.

"Leading mobile operators like Kyivstar require innovative converged infrastructures that enable more efficient delivery of services while providing the framework for the delivery of tomorrow's new, application-intensive services," said Alexander Lazarenko, strategic account manager at Cisco Ukraine. "By deploying Cisco's Next-Generation Network Optical Multiservice Transport Platform, Kyivstar is demonstrating its leadership in helping end users, businesses and consumers alike, handle the influx of voice, video, data and mobility services over a range of devices to deliver existing and future Next-Generation Network services."

As one of the critical ingredients in the service provider optical transport network foundation, the Cisco ONS 15454 Multiservice Transport Platform with reconfigurable optical add-drop multiplexing technology offers Kyivstar the optimum combination of flexibility, capacity and future-proofing.

The project was implemented by Cisco's Gold Certified Partner S&T Ukraine, who together with Kyivstar solved complex technological tasks such as the seamless integration of the new network into the existing transport infrastructure.

About Kyivstar

The national mobile communications operator Kyivstar provides services for more than 23,4 million subscribers (as of 01.09.2008), covering territories where more than 99,9% of Ukrainian population lives. Kyivstar's network covers all cities and towns and more than 28 thousand rural settlements, all main national and regional roads, as well as most of the sea and river shores of the Ukraine. Kyivstar provides EDGE/GPRS services all over its coverage territory in Ukraine and provides roaming services in 193 countries and territories on 5 continents. Kyivstar provides Ukrainian citizens with modern telecommunication technologies at affordable prices.

About Cisco Systems

Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) is the worldwide leader in networking that transforms how people connect, communicate and collaborate. Information about Cisco can be found at http://www.cisco.com. For ongoing news, please go to http://newsroom.cisco.com. Cisco equipment in Europe is supplied by Cisco Systems International BV, a wholly owned subsidiary of Cisco Systems, Inc.

Cisco, the Cisco logo, and Cisco Systems are registered trademarks or trademarks of Cisco Systems, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the United States and certain other countries. All other trademarks mentioned in this document are the property of their respective owners. The use of the word partner does not imply a partnership relationship between Cisco and any other company. This document is Cisco Public Information.

For direct RSS Feeds of all Cisco news, please visit "News@Cisco" at the following link:

http://newsroom.cisco.com/dlls/rss.html

Contact Information: Press Contact CEE: Judit Sinkó +36 30 9493 405 jsinko@cisco.com Investor Relations Contact: Matthew Hardwick + 44 20 8824 1970 mahardwi@cisco.com Analyst Relations Contact: Sharon Robinson + 27 21 4134577 sharobin@cisco.com Press Contact Ukraine: Natalia Lysenko +380 44 391 3618 nalysenk@cisco.com