JOINT ANNOUNCEMENT

NTT Communications Corporation
Closed Joint Stock Company TransTeleCom

October 23, 2006

TOKYO, JAPAN and MOSCOW, RUSSIA---NTT Communications Corporation (NTT Com) and Closed Joint Stock Company TransTeleCom (TTC), Russia’s leading backbone telecom operator, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding regarding strategic partnerships for mutual data network business development. The companies will start exploring mutually advantageous business opportunities such as data/IP network services.

The cooperations development covers interconnecting MPLS networks, IP Transit and IPL beginning early next year. The MPLS network interconnection will enable both companies to increase network coverage through a seamless international network spanning most of the Asia-Pacific region and Russia.

According to the research consultancy Yankee Group, inter-regional dependency is growing swiftly: More than 80% of Western European companies already have network connectivity to Asia, and 42% of these companies plan to increase trans-continental bandwidth capacity by the end of 2006. Among Asia Pacific companies, of which 76% have network connectivity to Europe, 28% will increase trans-continental capacity in 2006.**

"The interconnection enables us to expand our international outreach by taking advantage of NTT Com’s unrivaled coverage of the Asia-Pacific region," stated Sergey Lipatov, President of TransTeleCom.

According to Masaaki Takenaka, Vice President of the Product Management Group at NTT Com’s Global Business Division, "Not only will NTT Com gain coverage in 900 cities in Russia, but also improved network latency between Japan and Europe by taking advantage of TTC’s trans-Russian cable route which is significantly shorter in distance when compared to using the existing routes. We look forward to meeting the increasing demand in the region for enhanced requirements, such as end-to-end management."

The interconnection reflects growing interest of Japanese companies towards Russia in recent years.

*MPLS technology, which sets protocols and other standards for high-speed label switching in large networks, enables construction of IP-VPN that use labels, not IP addresses, to determine destinations.
** Yankee Group 2005 Global Network Strategies Survey