Sky Link and Lucent Technologies to Deploy CDMA2000 1xEV-DO Network

Sky Link and Lucent Technologies announced they are increasing the voice capacity of the Sky Link network in Krasnodar and enhancing it with CDMA2000 1xEV-DO technology. Krasnodar Cellular Network, the regional Sky Link operator, and Lucent are upgrading existing Lucent base stations with CDMA2000 1xEV-DO technology and installing new equipment that will enable the operator's Sky Turbo service, which provides data speeds of up to 2.4 Megabits per second. The project is beginning in the cities of Krasnodar, Sochi, and Novorossisk.

"Sky Turbo brings new, profitable multimedia services to the region and will help grow Sky Link's reputation as a full-service 3G operator," said Alexandr Piotrovsky, deputy general director of strategic marketing and sales for Sky Link. "The high data speeds enabled by CDMA2000 1xEV-DO - the main advantage of CDMA450 compared to the 2G standards - enables the proliferation of 3G services in the regional markets."

Within the project's framework, existing Lucent base stations are being upgraded with CDMA2000 1xEV-DO channel cards and software. The EV-DO based Sky Turbo service delivers high-speed mobile data services and Internet access to Sky Link's subscribers, featuring the highest mobile data speeds available in Russia. The Sky Turbo service was commercially launched in December 2005 in the Sky Link-Moscow and Sky Link-St. Petersburg networks simultaneously. In March 2006, the Sky Link-Ekaterinburg network's subscribers were granted access to the service.

Trial tests demonstrated that Sky Turbo enables subscribers to download files at average data speeds of 600-700 kilobits per second given standard network load conditions. The advanced wireless broadband Internet access and data transmission technology provides Sky Link's subscribers with fast downloading of Internet content and large files, e-mail, IPTV, and remote video surveillance services.