TOKYO and MOSCOW -- TransTeleCom Company CJSC (TTK), Russia's leading telecommunications backbone operator and NTT Communications Corporation (NTT Com) , announced today that the Hokkaido-Sakhalin Cable System (HSCS), which directly links the two companies' telecom networks via an undersea cable between Nevelsk, Sakhalin in Russia and Ishikari, Hokkaido, Japan. began commercial operation on July 3.

The two companies jointly started to construct the fiber-optic submarine cable HSCS in 2007 and the work has been completed in December 2007. HSCS measures 570 km in length and has a capacity of 640 Gbps. Its startup gives NTT Com the shortest route between Japan and Europe, compared with existing cable routes through southern Asia and the United States, by connecting the cable to the TTK's extensive backbone network in Russia, which exceeds 55,000 km.

The HSCS route will enable NTT Com to provide the following high-reliability, high-quality services: