Rostelecom to upgrade Transit Europe-Asia Cable System

Rostelecom PJSC (MOEX: RTKM, RTKMP; OTCQX: ROSYY) announced on April 9 that it plans to begin a significant upgrade the transcontinental Transit Europe-Asia (TEA) Cable System this year. The upgrade will increase the capacity of TEA, which connects Europe with China and Japan, to 2 Tbps, with individual channels offering 100 Gbps.

The upgrade is part of a TEA modernization program Rostelecom inaugurated in 2016. The upgrades already deployed as part of that effort have led to $30 million in new customer contracts, according to the Russian service provider.

"Further development of our TEA project is one of the key goals of Rostelecom wholesale business," explained Natalia Kryuchkova, vice president for carrier business at the service provider. "With some of the largest operators in European and Asian regions as major customers, Rostelecom expects significant sales growth thanks to new network capabilities, and through engagement with new partners for traffic transmission."

The TEA project began in February 2003 with the signing of the strategic Telecommunications Services Agreement between Russia and China. Rostelecom says it plans to further upgrade the fiber-optic network's capacity to 10 Tbps within the next several years.

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