Comfone Key2roam® extends its global footprint

30. July 2004

...........................................................................

The Karabakh Telecom Company, provider of local, long-distance and wireless telephone and Internet services in the Nagorny-Karabakh Republic, is the latest mobile operator to become a member of Comfone's Key2roam® community. As a Comfone Signalling and Signalling Access over Internet customer since 2003, Karabakh Telecom is very satisfied with the quality of Comfone's services and customer care. On learning about Comfone's new Key2roam® broker solution, it was logical for the company to extend their service portfolio with Comfone as a means to broaden their roaming coverage further.

We welcome Karabakh Telecom as a new Key2roam® customer and also as a new GCS customer.

Comfone Key2roam® is a brokering solution for mobile operators that enables fast roaming worldwide. It is based on buying, selling and clearing voice and messaging roaming traffic, and aims to increase roaming coverage while cutting operational costs. The strength of Comfone's concept is its simplicity, ensuring mobile operators fast and efficient connection to operators worldwide, all through one single roaming agreement with Comfone Key2roam® and without any change to existing signalling and clearing standards and practices.

Since launch at the 3GSM World Congress in France in February this year, Comfone Key2roam® has attracted customers from Uzbekistan, Iraq, Kyrgyzstan and now the Nagorny-Karabakh Republic. Comfone's test network is Orange, in Liechtenstein. A Key2roam® Interest group was established in May.

Under the guidance of its Chairman, Mr. Pierre Fattouch, and since its launch on February 2002, Karabakh Telecom has built up widespread coverage over the national territory (75% of major cities and affiliate villages in the regions and almost 100% in the capital Stepanakert and its suburbs). The Nagorny-Karabakh Republic has 144,000 inhabitants and borders Azerbaijan to the north and east, Iran to the south and Armenia to the west.