TNW Teleset Net

RNS Number:8147C
Teleset Networks PCL
28 August 2007




FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                      28 August 2007


Teleset Networks launches new cable TV service.


Teleset Networks ("Teleset" or "the Company"), a leading private fixed-line
telecom network operator in Kazan, Republic of Tatarstan, Russia, has launched a
cable TV service to be delivered via the Company's fiber-optic network.


Initially, the new service will be available in four districts of Kazan,
(Aviastroitelny, Kirovsky, Novo-Savinovsky and Privolzhsky) with a total
addressable market of approximately 250,000 flats. The Company plans to roll out
the service in the other three districts of the city in the foreseeable future.


Programming for the new service includes content from around 40 of the most
popular sports, music and entertainment channels. Teleset has already signed
direct contracts with well-known channels including The Discovery Channel,
Animal Planet, National Geographic Channel and Eurosport.


The new cable TV service will be available to Teleset's existing telephone
subscribers as well as to customers on other networks. It offers TV viewers in
Kazan a high quality service at competitive prices which the Company expects
will average approximately $5 per month per customer compared to the average
$5.80 per month charged by other networks. Unlike its main competitors, TVT and
DIVAN-TV, that charge monthly in advance Teleset offers its customers the
opportunity to pay for its cable TV service after use on a monthly basis.


All Teleset's existing subscribers, currently totalling approximately 104,250,
are being offered a number of incentives to subscribe for the Company's new
cable TV service. Customers will also benefit from the Company's single billing
for all its services, including fixed-line telephony, internet and cable TV.


Yiannis Demetriou, Chief Executive Officer of Teleset, commented: "Demand for
cable TV is growing rapidly in Kazan and across Russia as disposable incomes
increase in line with the strong economic growth the country is experiencing.
Cable TV represents an important opportunity for Teleset to generate significant
incremental revenues from our digital network."


In Russia, cable TV is a leading pay TV alternative to the municipal free-to-air
television services. Penetration of cable TV was 14 per cent in 2005 and the
market is currently highly fragmented.


According to iKS-Consulting, the Russian cable TV market grew by 43 per cent to
$190 million in 2005. Moscow, where average spend was $12 per month compared to
$2.5 per month overall, accounted for 32 per cent of the market. The Volga
region, which includes Tatarstan and where average monthly spend was $1.8 in
2005, accounted for 15 per cent of the market.


iKS-Consulting forecasts that the total number of cable TV subscribers will grow
from 6.7 million in 2005 to 12 million in 2010 with premium TV subscribers
increasing from 1 per cent to 5 per cent of the market. This is supported by
Aton Capital which predicts that the value of the market in 2010 will reach $624
million, reflecting the continuing growth in demand for the high quality
programming cable TV can deliver.

END

CONTACTS

Teleset Networks                                          +357 22 450 790
Yiannis Demetriou

Blue Oar Securities Plc - Nominated Adviser              +44 20 7448 4400
Shane Gallwey

Metropol (UK) Limited - Broker                           +44 20 7439 6880
Alexander Selegenev

Bankside Consultants - Financial PR adviser              +44 20 7367 8888
Simon Bloomfield or Steve Liebmann


About Teleset

Teleset is the leading private fixed-line telecom operator in Kazan, the capital
of the Republic of Tatarstan, Russian Federation, where the business has been
operating since 1996. Teleset owns an all-digital local network with current
switching capacity of 130,000 lines. Its US$17 million acquisition of TNPKO in
2006 improved its coverage of Kazan and increased its market share in Kazan to
27 per cent for voice traffic and 29 per cent of data traffic.

The Company's strategy is to become Kazan's leading telecom operator and to
expand into other cities in Tatarstan and elsewhere in the Russian Federation,
both organically and through carefully selected acquisitions.

Major long-term shareholders include funds managed by Templeton Asset Management
Ltd., by the Black Sea Trade and Development Bank, an international financial
institution, and Deutsche Bank.




                      This information is provided by RNS
            The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

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