Central Telegraph Selects Verimatrix for First Moscow IPTV Deployment.

LONDON -- Verimatrix, developer of the most widely deployed IPTV content protection system with tier one operators, today announced that it is working with Russian systems integrator CTI to secure the content of Central Telegraph's IPTV service for Moscow and the Moscow region. The Verimatrix Content Authority System (VCAS), a software-based content protection system, enables Central Telegraph to satisfy all the security demands of content owners when obtaining rights to early-release movies, popular series and other premium content, such as sports coverage.

The service roll-out, which will be made available to Central Telegraph's 60,000 broadband Internet subscribers, will be completed by October 2006. The IPTV service will offer interactive television services such as Video-on-Demand (VOD), premium channels, information and interactive services, as well as traditional broadcast and multicast TV and radio channels.

Konstantin Kravchenko, first deputy general director for Central Telegraph, commented, "IPTV is the next step in delivering the most advanced, value-added services to our sophisticated residential customer base. Our advanced infrastructure of fibre optic cable and Ethernet to the home has given us ample bandwidth to provide a really compelling offering." He continued, "However, if we can't provide our customers with the content they wish to view, the technological foundation of the service is wasted. We selected Verimatrix as VCAS has set the standard for the content protection industry and we wanted to use the best possible system to secure our revenue stream."

VCAS is a software-based system that is built on the principles of public key infrastructure (PKI) and X.509 digital certificates to provide the most stable and robust solution to prevent unauthorised access to IPTV services. "In the IPTV industry today, access to compelling content is the lynchpin on which services thrive or fail," noted Steve Oetegenn, EVP of Global Sales and Marketing, Verimatrix. "We provide IPTV operators with the tools to protect their revenue streams, prevent unauthorised access and forensically trace pirated content back to the perpetrators. By employing the most advanced content security, release windows for VOD materials will ultimately move closer to the theatre release date, making the content even more attractive to subscribers."

About Central Telegraph

JSC Central Telegraph is one of the largest telecommunication companies providing the full range of telecommunication services to individual and corporate customers in the Moscow region. Technological platform for the development of communication services of Central Telegraph is represented by its own fiber-optic network with total length of more than 2000 km, covering the city of Moscow and the Moscow region and having more than 400 points of access. Powerful telecommunication resources allow the company to implement large telecommunication projects. Their implementation allows to provide modern complex solutions and new generation services to corporate customers and to provide a wide range of telecommunication services to residential customers.

One of the key projects of the company is the creation of a unified broadband network in Moscow and in the Moscow region. The construction was initiated in 2004 by JSC Central Telegraph and its subsidiary, ZAO Centel. This network is built using Metro Ethernet and Ethernet To The Home technologies and allows transferring all existing types of information with various categories of quality. Today the network covers 700,000 Moscow apartments in 25 districts of the city, and in five more districts of Moscow and towns of the Moscow region the network is under construction. Local district networks are interconnected between them and by this are the cells of the Unified Moscow Broadband Network. In three years this network will connect 2.8 million apartments in Moscow and in the Moscow region. www.cnt.ru.

About CTI

CTI -- Communications. Technology. Innovations is a Russian systems integrator and software development company specialising in IP-communications. The CTI suite of software products includes IPSoft Billing, HelpDesk, and the IPSoft Recording Suite. CTI provides IP-telephony, IP TV, Call-/Contact-Centers solutions, components of OSS/BSS systems, multiservice IP-networks for service providers and corporations. It implements complex projects, audit, consulting, e-learning, support. CTI is a member of TeleManagement Forum, Association CRM and Russian Association for Networks and Services. To find out more about CTI products and solutions www.cti.ru.

About Verimatrix

Verimatrix is the leading provider of digital content protection solutions with a global customer base including leading telecommunications providers in Europe, North America and Asia. Verimatrix offers provider approved, carrier-class solutions specifically for today's bi-directional Pay TV. Through the seamless integration of patented digital watermarking technology into its best-of-breed encryption solutions, Verimatrix protects content and revenue streams, as well as detects digital piracy wherever it occurs within the distribution chain. Verimatrix has excellent relationships with the major Hollywood studios by providing valuable anti-piracy solutions for the fight against rampant digital piracy. For more information, please visit www.verimatrix.com.