OREANDA-NEWS. September 18, 2007. TransTeleCom (TTC) is opening its Central Representative Office in Beijing to develop its presence in the burgeoning Asia Pacific Region (APR). Once open, TTC will be the first Russian telecommunication company with a representative office in the APR.

The representative office will focus its activities on developing ties with Chinese regulatory authorities as well as facilitating scientific, technological and economic cooperation with their Chinese partner companies. The office is also tasked with driving sales of TTC services and its Eurasian infrastructure capacities. The office will operate as a liaison station between TTC and its partners working all over the APR.

The Beijing representative office is to play an essential role in TTC’s strategy for the APR. It will be a cornerstone element in implementing the EurasiaHighway project that interconnects European and Asian telecommunication networks and is the shortest digital route between East and West. The project gives transcontinental companies and telecommunication operators access to the most convenient and seamless telecommunication route from the APR to Europe. Until now data transmission was mainly directed via seabed cables under the Indian Ocean and through the trans-US cable systems. TTC’s terrestrial infrastructure uses the geographical advantages of Russia and offers a natural gateway between the two regions.

One of the major tasks of the TTC’s Beijing office will be the support and preparation of contracts with European companies and multinational corporations which operate business facilities located in China and the APR and have demand for communications between their offices. Collaboration with Russian companies entering the Chinese market and those already present (e.g. RosNeft, RAO EES, Gazprom, KAMAZ, Vneshtorgbank, RusAl, Rosoboronexport) is yet another important mission for the TTC representative office.

TransTeleCom is also increasing its presence in other areas of the APR, besides China. In March 2007 the TTC’s point of presence (PoP) was installed in Hong Kong, and presently, installation of the new PoP in Tokyo is under way. The opening of new representative offices in Hong Kong and Tokyo is planned for the end of 2007. Globally, TTC operates a total of six PoPs located in London, Amsterdam, Stockholm Frankfurt and Hong Kong.

TCC’s strategy in Asia is aimed at providing a reliable transcontinental route for data transmission from Europe to Asia. The basis of the route is the worlds largest (28,000 km.) reserved terrestrial Infrastructure network, which spans the length of Russia. It is built around DWDM technology and has a capacity of 50 Gbps which is easily scalable to up to 400 Gbps. The implementation of TTC’s strategy in the APR will provide multinational companies and regional telecommunication operators with access to the shortest, seamless telecommunication route from the Asia to Europe as well as extra backup; essentially increased reliability of intercontinental data transfer.

TransTeleCom has a long history of successful cooperation with four major Chinese telecommunication companies: China Unicom, China Netcom, China Tietong and China Telecom. TTC operates two border-crossing points at Zabaikalsk-Manchuria and Grodekovo-Suifenhe. TTC also maintains strong ties with NTT Communications (Japan) and Hutchison Global Communications (Hong Kong). The TTC-NTT Com joint project to establish an underwater fiber-optic cable between Sakhalin and Hokkaido will bring ТСС additional access to the APR’s telecommunication networks. Thus, the acclaimed EurasiaHighway route offered by TTC to Chinese operators will significantly boost regional information stability and security, not only for China but for the entire Asian-Pacific Region.

“Economic cooperation between Russia and China continues to expand rapidly, and the Russian Ministry of Economic Development and Trade forecasts that annual trade will soon amount to US$40 billion,” said TransTeleCom President Sergei Lipatov. “Mutual investment between the countries doubles each year, and the necessity of telecommunications is evident. I see the Beijing office opening as a step towards the development of close commercial collaboration between Russian and Chinese telecommunication companies.”

Igor Kelshev, Senior Vice President for International Sales and Marketing said, “The requirements are on the rise for high-quality transcontinental data transfer routes. The demand for data delivery between Europe and China will multiply four times by 2011. The capacity for Eurasian data transfer will exceed 130 Gbps, with an annual turnover of approximately US$500 million. TTC expects to control up to 15% of the Eurasian data transfer market”. Kelshev also noted that “TransTelecom’s infrastructure and the EurasiaHighway project will satisfy the high requirements of multinational corporations for quality and reliability in transcontinental data transfer”.