MOSCOW, May 18 (RIA Novosti) - TransTeleCom said Thursday its earnings rose 40% year on year in the first quarter of 2006, to 2.83 billion rubles (about $104.8 million).
Revenues from provision of communications services, which account for more than 70% of the company's revenues, rose 50% in the reporting period to 2.12 billion rubles (about $78.5 million).
TransTeleCom, which includes a parent company and 17 regional enterprises, posted a consolidated income of 3.09 billion rubles (about $114 million) in January-March 2006.
The company continued its regional rollout of modern fiber-optic communications in the first quarter in the central, Volga and southern federal districts.
TransTeleCom was founded in 1997 to provide telecommunications services to Russian Railways, the country's railway monopoly. Russian Railways remains the sole owner of the company.
TransTeleCom operates the country's largest fiber-optic network, with more than 50,000 km laid along Russia's railways. It has more than 900 access outlets in 71 of Russia's 88 regions, and connects Europe and Asia.
