Rostelecom, Russia’s national long-distance telecommunications operator, has launched a new fiber-optic line from the Russian city of Blagoveshchensk to Heihe (Heilongjiang province, China).

This high-speed terrestrial cross-border link was constructed using DWDM equipment, with initial throughput capacity of 2.5 Gbps to be further expanded up to 400 Gbps, to interconnect Rostelecom’s network to the network of China Telecom, the leading Chinese carrier. The new route ensures broadband traffic transmission from Asian countries to Europe through Rostelecom’s network in the frames of Europe-Asia transit (TEA) project offered by the Company. In addition, connecting the digital output in Blagoveshchensk with Rostelecom’s backbone network enables the Company to raise the quality of services to Russian customers.

The Blagoveshchensk-Heihe fiber-optic line is the second broadband channel of Rostelecom, which connects Russia and China. The availability of two geographically diverse routes contributes to higher throughput capacity in this direction. Being also the back up of Rostelecom’s access to China, it increases reliability of traffic transit. By now the Company has already set a STM-16 cross-border link from Khabarovsk to Fuyuan.

Dmitry Yerokhin, General Director of Rostelecom, commented: “Construction of a new cable system between Russia and China is another step towards integrating communications networks of our countries into the global telecommunications space. The direct connection of China Telecom and Rostelecom’s networks provides both companies with more opportunities for launching new services and reinforcing partnership in various telecommunication fields.”

The project was implemented as part of the cooperation program of the governments of the Russian Federation and the People’s Republic of China and under the agreement on construction of a cable system between Russia and China signed by Rostelecom and China Telecom on July 15, 2004.