[Effendi]

Russia's Synterra launches first WiMAX network in Moscow

MOSCOW, April 3 (Prime-Tass) -- Russian alternative telecommunication operator Synterra has launched a WiMAX network into commercial operations in Moscow, the company said in a statement Monday.

"It is the first WiMAX network in Moscow," Alexei Topolnitsky, the company's marketing communication group director, told Prime-Tass.

The company plans to invest about U.S. $3 million in network development in Moscow this year and about $4 million in the Moscow Region, Topolnitsky said, adding that the investments would be made from the company's own funds.

At the moment the company has already signed up several hundred clients and plans to have several thousand clients by the end of the year, Topolnitsky said, adding that the company signs up only corporate clients.

WiMAX is a wireless technology that provides users with telephony, Internet and data transfer services.

Synterra comprises Komet, RTComm.Ru and Telecom Center companies.