KT Corporation (Korea Telecom) of Korea and Sumitomo Corporation of Japan concluded an acquisition of East Telecom majority share, Uzbekistans

nation-wide telecommunications and backbone networks operator, was announced today by President & CEO of KT Corp. Dr. Joong Soo Nam and General Manager of Sumitomo Corp. Dr.Keiji Ikemura. The agreement includes purchase of 85% East Telecom share and additional assets related to wired and wireless operations of the latest generations, valued in total range of over 75 Million USD. Dr. Nam believes that East Telecom represents excellent asset in growing telecommunications market of Uzbekistan and expects that within reasonably short period WiMAX launch and a whole new range of services will be offered to customers. As one of the most successful Asian operators KT Corp. considers further investments in Uzbekistans telecommunications. KT Corp. and Sumitomo already have several mutual projects in telecommunications, so such cooperation is continuation of proven and

Mr.Davor Grcevich, President and CEO of Eastwell pointed out that this step represents important move for the future of East Telecom and shall insure growing companys need for prospective development. KT Corp. was natural choice based on their experience in the field of implementation and operation of the latest technologies. Eastwell Group founded, developed and managed East Telecom since late 2003 and presently the company is leader in segment of NGN, SDH and multi-service network operations, focused mainly on the corporate sector. Eastwell Invest is subsidiary of Eastwell, Luxembourg, private investment group. In Uzbekistan, the group will continue to focus on telecommunications, advertising and energy-related business.