ALMATY, Kazakhstan – May 19, 2009 – Cisco and JSC Kazakhtelecom (Kazakhtelecom) today announced that they are extending their cooperation and work on a number of new initiatives. These will be designed to help Kazakhtelecom develop new, integrated services for its private, institutional and enterprise customers, both within Kazakhstan and internationally. The cooperation also aims to accelerate Kazakhstan's national broadband development to help bridge the gap between urban and rural areas by providing Internet connectivity in rural regions and metropolitan area networks in the larger cities.

Facts / Highlights:

The cooperation, which was agreed upon in the form of a memorandum of understanding, will further focus on the following areas:

• Cisco will work with Kazakhtelecom in the areas of information and communication technology knowledge transfer and in helping the company stay at the forefront of networking technology developments.
• Virtual meetings will be organized regularly with Cisco's international subject matter experts, taking advantage of Kazakhtelecom's existing Cisco TelePresence^TM virtual meeting rooms. By utilizing Cisco TelePresence, Kazakhtelecom specialists will have access to a pool of Cisco experts globally, independent of geographic location.
• Kazakhtelecom will also work with Cisco CapitalSM, a wholly owned subsidiary of Cisco Systems that specializes in providing innovative financing solutions.
• The cooperation between Kazakhtelecom and Cisco began 10 years ago, when the operator built a national backbone using Cisco Frame Relay technology. This project was recognized by Cisco in 1999 as a highly innovative network deployment.
• In 2007, Kazakhtelecom upgraded its Internet Protocol/Multiprotocol Label Switching (IP/MPLS) data network platform with the Cisco CRS-1 Carrier Routing System, a solution that enables the integration of network management systems at the IP and optical dense wavelength-divisioning multiplexing (DWDM) levels. This ambitious project, the largest in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), helped increase Kazakhtelecom's transport network capacity up to 10-fold, to 10 gigabits per second. Kazakhtelecom has also twice increased broadband access speeds for the wider population without increasing subscription fees.
• Kazakhtelecom's high-speed network platform has allowed the company to deploy three Cisco TelePresence virtual meeting rooms connecting Аstana, Аlmaty and Мoscow.  

Supporting Quotes:

• Askar Zhumagaliev, chairman of the board of Kazakhtelecom

"With the objective to develop Kazakhstan's telecom infrastructure, Kazakhtelecom has been continuously introducing innovative solutions of leading international companies. The memorandum of understanding we just signed will allow us to closer cooperate in information exchange. Cisco, one of 'trendsetters' in communications technologies, becomes one of our most important sources of ICT innovation. The cooperation between our companies will positively affect the deployment of telecom innovations in Kazakhstan."  

• Kaan Terzioglu, vice president, Cisco Europe East, Emerging Markets

 "Kazakhtelecom is one of the country's corporate leaders and a long-standing technology innovator. Cisco is proud to collaborate with Kazakhtelecom to help identify and develop key steps toward increased broadband capacity, connecting the unconnected to provide for social inclusion, and contributing to the growth and progress that ultimately benefits Kazakhstan's economic and social development."

Tags: Cisco, Kazakhtelecom

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About JSC Kazakhtelecom

Kazakhtelecom JSC - a leading service provider in Kazakhstan and one of the most rapidly developing telecom companies in post-Soviet countries -  provides a wide range of ICT services.
51% of Kazakhtelecom's shares belongs to the Government of Kazakhstan in the name of Fund of National Welfare 'Samruk-Kazyna'. Kazakhtelecom's HQ is based in the capital of Kazakhstan, Astana city. The company has branches in each oblast (province) of Kazakhstan and provides telecom services all over the country. Kazakhtelecom has also representative offices in the Russian Federation, People's Republic of China and Republic of Tajikistan. The operator serves more than 3.333 mln subscribers of fixed lines. Telephone density in Kazakhstan is about 23.4 fixed lines per 100 people. Kazakhtelecom JSC closely cooperates with more than 40 international service providers. 
At the end of 2008, total number of Internet-users at Kazakhtelecom (including daughter companies) became more than 1mln 190 thousand subscribers that is 41.5% more than in 2007. Out of this, number of broadband users (including daughter companies) exceeds 660 thousand people. More detailed information about Kazakhtelecom JSC is available at www.telecom.kz.