The news that Comstar-UTS now has 400,000 broadband Internet subscribers has been quickly followed by financial results that show the Sistema-backed company had revenues of $1.120 billion (€826.39 million) in 2006, or 23% more than a year earlier. At the same time, its net profit was up by 68% to $178.1 million, while the operational profit rose by 11% to $297.7 million. Speaking exclusively to Broadband TV News, Comstar-UTS’s president and Ceo Eric Franke said that of the company’s 400,000 broadband Internet subscribers, 83,000 now receive its IPTV service Stream TV. This employs both ADSL and ADSL2+ technology to deliver up to 90 TV channels, VOD, games and other services. It also plans to introduce HDTV services in the future and expand its operations beyond Moscow to other parts of the country. Comstar-UTS has around 4 million fixed-line customers and holds a 25% plus one share stake in Svyazinvest, Russia’s largest telecom company.
