Russian Telecom articles from February 2001

Russian Telecom archives from February 2001

Concept of Public Cellular Mobile Communications Development Until 2010.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... The RF Ministry for Communications and Information has established a strategy for development of public cellular mobile telecommunications for the period 2001-2010. The ideas were discussed and approved by the board of the Ministry for...

Web Watch.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... The Duma has introduced several bills for Internet regulation, including one that would make digital signatures legally binding. Passage of the bills may, however, take a while, with officials concerned about the legal and security implications...

EMS Technologies Wins $23 Million Contract to Supply Satellite Repeaters.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... Under a contract worth US$23 million, a Canadian unit of EMS Technologies Inc. will supply Russian satellite operator and builder, Khrunichev State Research and Production Center of Moscow, with three flight satellite repeaters and one...

Information Revolution in Russia Forum to Be Held in March.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... From March 13-16, 2001, the Russian Public Center of Internet Technologies (RPCIT), with cooperation from the RF Ministry of Communications and Information, will hold the fifth anniversary Russian Internet forum "Information Revolution in...

Russian Provider Introduces Roaming by OSS Plus Cards.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... OSS Corp. Ltd., a Russian IP-telephony provider, has announced the introduction of roaming by OSS Plus general-purpose cards. Now OSS Plus card users can make calls from Russia as well as thirty other countries popular among Russian...

Nateks Presents New Generation of DSL Equipment.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... Nateks, a scientific and technical center, reported the commercialization of its new generation xDSL equipment. The FlexDSL new generation equipment uses a modern elemental base manufactured by Globespan (US), Infineon (Germany), and Conexant...

Lucent and Russia's TransTelecom Complete Network Phase.(ZAO Company TransTelecom)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... Lucent Technologies and Zao Company TransTelecom, of Moscow, have completed the next phase of Zao's optical transport network. The network is currently being built along the Russian Federal Railway System, which is over 37,000 km long. With...

Moscow Operators Delay GPRS Launch.(Vimpelcom)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... Vimpelcom and Mobile TeleSystems have pushed back the launch of their latest mobile Internet technology, GPRS, citing software crashes and lack of handsets. Last year MTS said it was aiming to launch GPRS high-speed data transmission...

MGTS Develops ".ru" Project.(JSC Moscow City Telephone Network)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... JSC Moscow City Telephone Network and its subsidiary, PTT-Teleport Moscow Ltd., have announced the connection of the 600th client to the city broadband network of data transmission and Internet under the ".ru" project. Within the framework...

Golden Telecom Closes Acquisition of 24 Percent of MCT.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... Golden Telecom Inc., a telecommunications and Internet services provider, has completed the acquisition of 24 percent of MCT Corp. Golden Telecom exchanged its 100 percent ownership of Vostok Mobile BV, a Netherlands registered private limited...

Rostelecom and Guta Bank Offer New Method of Payment for Telecom Services.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... JSC Rostelecom and DC Guta Bank Ltd. have introduced the new technology of long-distance and international telecom services of charging through writing sums directly off subscriber's plastic card accounts on the base of MMT. On January 10,...

Demos-Internet Provides Billing for Internet Service Providers.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... Demos-Internet is offering the Demos Billing System (DBS), a computer-based payment system. DBS is the first Russian certified billing system for Internet service providers. Using billing services in the Demos-Internet payment system, an...

MGTS Increases Telephone Rates.(JSC Moscow City Telephone Network)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... JSC Moscow City Telephone Network (MGTS) increased telecom rates for dwellers from 50 to 60 rubles per month beginning in February. New rates were introduced on the basis of a decision made by the board of the RF Ministry for Antimonopoly...

MTU-Intel Reduces Cost of Access to Internet.
February 1, 2001... MTU-Intel, a Moscow Internet service provider, announced the introduction of new rates for dial-up access to the Internet. The new rates are lower than the existing ones by 20 percent on average. The indicated rates also include access to the...

Seven Russian Telecom Firms to Merge.
February 1, 2001... Seven telecoms firms in Russia's Urals and Siberia regions will merge by May 2002 as part of a restructuring of the country's telecommunications holding company, Svyazinvest. "All companies will hold shareholders' meetings by the end of...

Krasnodar PTT Embraces VoIP Technology.(Telspec contract)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... Telspec, the UK-based telecommunications vendor, has secured a major contract for its intelligent network (IN) technology in Russia. The company said that its IN platform has become the first IN technology of its type to be approved for use...

Swedish MTG Confirms Interest in Russian NTV.(Modern Times Group MTG AB)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... Swedish Modern Times Group confirmed reports it was bidding to buy a stake in Russia's top independent television network, NTV. "We are interested. We are in talks with several people," MTG's CEO, Hans Holger Albrecht, said. NTV is...

Delta-Telecom Offers Telecom Services Subscription.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... Delta-Telecom clients can receive any telecommunications services offered by the operator through telecom services subscription from February. The subscription is accomplished via a plastic card of four nominal values (15, 30, 50, and...

Bercut Increases Number of Partners.(Altaisviaz and Siberian Cellular Communications contracts)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... Bercut, a scientific and production company in Saint-Petersburg, has obtained orders for subscription service systems. One of them is Bercut PrePaid Service, a modern complex solution implementing the technology and mechanism of prepaid...

JSC Kirovsky Zavod Commissioned New Fiber Optic Link.(Telros and Kirov-Telecom Ltd. complete work)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... Telros, along with Kirov-Telecom Ltd., has the completed construction and commissioning of fiber optic links in JSC Kirovsky Zavod. Telros is a general contractor of the project, taking on the creation of the digital telecommunications...

Cellular Communications Operator of North-West to Introduce Pre-Paid System.(Comverse Network Systems Div. wins North-Western GSM contract)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... Comverse became a winner in the bids invited by North-Western GSM Ltd. for delivery of the software-hardware platform for realization of the pre-paid services system. The sum of the contract signed by the companies in January 2001 amounts to...

Commercial Operation of Web Hosting Center Commences.(HostWay.Ru; JSC Rostelecom)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... Commercial operation of a high-quality Web hosting service center, HostWay.Ru, commenced in Saint-Petersburg in January, 2001. The center will provide Internet server accommodation, operation, and maintenance services on a platform specially...

Digital Television Goes on Air.(TeleMedium Ltd. installs broadcasting equipment)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... TeleMedium Ltd., a company belonging to the Telecominvest Operators Group, has started installation of the equipment for digital television broadcast. Pilot broadcast of the first digital TV channel in Saint-Petersburg was scheduled to begin in...

New Moscow Cellular Firm Seeks Credit and Frequencies.(Sonic Duo)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... Moscow cellular operator, Sonic Duo, a joint venture of Finland's Sonera and a state-controlled Moscow telecom, said it was seeking financing to build its new network as a summer launch deadline looms. Sonic Duo general director, Alexander...

Albania Relaunches GSM License Sale.(Global System for Mobile Communication)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... Albania will invite new bids, starting from $25 million, to grant a second GSM mobile phone license to one of the three companies already involved in the bidding, a government official said. Vodafone International Holdings and a...

Czech Republic Sees US$134 Million Price Tag for UMTS Licenses.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... The Czech telecom regulator said it would recommend the government sell third-generation licenses to the country's three existing mobile phone operators for five billion crowns ($134 million) each. David Stadnik, the head of the regulatory...

First Capital International Announces the Acquisition of a VoIP Operator in the Baltic Region.(TGK-Link AS)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... First Capital International Inc., an international telecommunications technology company, announced that the company has completed its formal acquisition of the controlling interest in TGK-Link AS, a voice over IP operator in Estonia. ...

Estonian Telecom Looks East.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... Estonian Telecom is looking at possible investments in the Russian market, according to CEO, Jaan Mannik. However, no investments outside of Estonia are planned before the second half of the year while the company concentrates on protecting its...

Eesti Raises 40 Million Euro Loan.(Eesti Telecom)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... Eesti Telecom, the Estonian incumbent operator, has raised E40 million from Bankgesellschaft Berlin, Dai-Ichi Kangyo Bank, Leonia Bank, Landesbank Schleswig Holstein Girozentrale, Swedbank, and Hansabank. The pricing is said to be favorable...

Turkish-Kazakh Mobile Firm to Invest $50 Million.(KAR-tel)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... Turkish-Kazakh mobile phone company, KAR-tel, which operates on the Kazakh market as K-Mobile, plans to invest US$25 to $50 million this year in upgrading its network, the company said. "That's the planned investment, it may be a bit more...

Latvia to Seek Consultants for 3G License Sale.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... Latvia's government said it planned to advertise for consultants to help organize the sale of a third-generation mobile telephone license. Transport Minister, Anatolijs Gorbunovs, told reporters the rules for a tender for the consultants were...

Lithuanian Telekomas Plans New Billing System.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... Lithuania's fixed line telephone monopoly, Lietuvos Telekomas said that it will introduce a new billing system on July 1, 2001 that was more European Union-compatible. "It is one of the most important projects being implemented by the...

BT Starts Internet Services in Slovakia.(British Telecommunications PLC)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... British Telecom launched its first in a range of services based on Internet protocol (IP) for corporate clients in Slovakia, said BT Czech and Slovak director, Stephen Tucker. BT will immediately start a voice over IP service and other...

Slovenia to Auction UMTS Licenses.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... Slovenia plans to announce an auction for third-generation UMTS mobile phone licenses within a month, Prime Minister Janez Drnovsek said. "The auction will be prepared very soon, it should be ready within a month," Drnovsek told reporters...

Telephone Calls to Ukraine to Become International.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... Telephone calls to the Ukraine will belong to the international category beginning in February. One minute will cost 7 rubles 88 kopecks in the period from 8:00 to 18:00 (on weekdays), and 5 rubles 25 kopecks in the evening and at night. On...

Huawei Wins Uzbekistan GSM Contract.(Global System for Mobile Communication, Daewoo Unitel, Huawei Technologies)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... Chinese network infrastructure provider, Huawei Technologies, has won a contract to supply GSM infrastructure in Uzbekistan. The US$10 million deal was signed with mobile operator, Daewoo Unitel, owned by Korean conglomerate Daewoo. Huawei...

Poland Moves to Regain Control of Russia Telecom Line along Gas Pipeline.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... The Polish government has moved to regain control over a high-speed fiber optic telecommunications link which the Russian gas company, Gazprom, has installed along the Yamal gas pipeline across Poland. The government approved the amendments...

Slavneft Upgrades Corporate Network.(Cisco Systems, Step Logic)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... Cisco Systems and Step Logic, companies specializing in the field of system integration, have announced the beginning of works aimed at increasing protection of the corporate network of Slavneft, an oil and gas company. To ensure protection of...

C&W Leases Capacity from Sonera Carrier Services.(Cable & Wireless PLC)(Cable & Wireless )(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... Sonera Carrier Networks, the wholly-owned subsidiary of Finnish incumbent, Sonera, has entered into an agreement to provide Cable & Wireless with the capacity of 622 Mbps between Moscow and Helsinki. SCN will work with their Russian partner,...

MCT Completes Acquisition of Vostok Mobile.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... MCT Corp. has completed its previously announced purchase of Vostok Mobile BV, a Netherlands registered private limited holding company with 12 mobile telephone interests in Russia, from Golden Telecom Inc. Through the acquisition of Vostok...

New Internet Service Provider in Voronezh.(Comlink)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... A new Internet service provider, Comlink, which provides access to Internet without time-based charging, has begun to operate in Voronezh. Previously, Voronezhsviazinform, which is a monopolist on the Voronezh wire communications market, was...

Vladivostok Chooses DVB.(Digital Video Broadcasting - Terrestrial)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... All companies of the Primorski territory developing and using on-air digital TV-broadcast have chosen equipment of the DVB-T standard (Terrestrial Transmission, ETS 300744). This news comes in the analytical note recently distributed by...

MirTeleCom and Mir Sign Agreement on Cooperation.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... MirTeleCom, the association of telecom operators, and Mir, an interstate TV- broadcasting company, have signed a general agreement of cooperation in the field of telecom services rendering in Russia and other CIS countries. The companies...

Moscow Internet Service Provider Reduces Prices for Domains in .com, .org, and .net Zones.(Zenon NSP)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... Zenon NSP has reduced the cost of domain names registration and delegation in the.com, .org, and .net zones for a year. Registration can be made for any required accounting period from one to 10 years by accredited ICANN registers. In addition,...

Ericsson and JSC Tatincom Continue Cooperation.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... Early in 2001, Ericsson and JSC Tatincom signed a large contract for the supply of equipment for the extension of the existing mobile communications network to continue successful cooperation. Under the contract, Ericsson is to provide JSC...

JSC Uraltelecom Commissions Broadband ADSL-Access Network.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... On February 2, 2001, Microtest and JSC Uraltelecom of the Sverdlovsk region made a presentation of the new data transmission network realized on the base of ADSL technology. The multiservice network of JSC is the third one in Russia after...

Microsoft and MGTS Sign Corporate Agreement.(JSC Moscow City Telephone Network)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... JSC Moscow City Telephone Network (MGTS) and Microsoft have concluded a corporate agreement. Under the agreement, MGTS is to purchase Microsoft software to equip office workplaces, workstations, and server stations. Reequipment of MGTS...

Design of Multiservice Network and Delivery of Equipment to JSC Kamchatsviazinform Completed.(Diamond Communications)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... Diamond Communications has completed design and delivery of equipment for JSC Kamchatsviazinform under the agreement of the general contract for reconstruction and development of the data transmission network. The general-purpose multiservice...

Second 3Com Access Server Installed by MTU-Intel.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... MTU-Intel, an Internet service provider, has announced another expansion of its modem pool and commissioning of 3Com Total Control HiPer Access System, a new access server, designed to support 420 connection lines. Total Control HiPer...

SONET Rushes to Regions.(cellular network approved for Vladimir region)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... The RF Gossviaznadzor (the State Department of Telecommunications Supervision) has approved commissioning of the SONET cellular network in the Vladimir region. Initially, the network is designed to connect 2,000 clients. However, there are...

PeterStar Opens Access to New Telecom Channels.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... PeterStar has opened access to subscribers of the federal GSM cellular mobile communications network in the Magadan and Sakhalin regions. Calls of business clients are charged in accordance with the existing PeterStar rates for the Siberia...

Rostov Cellular Subscribers Can Use SMS Paging.(BeeLine-Rostov offers new digital service)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... BeeLine-Rostov continues development of digital services. On February 1,2001, SMS-paging, a new digital service, was introduced. BeeLine and Fora clients using the SMS paging service receive an additional unique five-digit number for...

Atlant-Inform Installs APS to Telecom Operators of Povolzhsky Territory.(automatic payment system)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... Atlant-Inform has signed two contracts with telecom operators of the Povolzhsky territory. Under this contract, the Atlant automatic payment system (APS) will be supplied to Smarts Ltd., the Ivanovo-based subsidiary, and Shupashkar-GSM Ltd.,...

PSAX Passed Test to Satisfaction in Conditions of Krasnodar.(ATM-switchboards of PSAX Lucent Technologies)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... Lucent Technologies has completed its testing of ATM-switchboards of PSAX Lucent Technologies for the multiplexing of interstation channels of Kubanelectrosviaz, a telecom operator, under the conditions of the real Krasnodar network. The...

Golden Telecom Reports Fourth Quarter and Year 2000 Results.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
February 1, 2001... Golden Telecom (GTI), an integrated provider of telecommunications and Internet services across Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), has reported its results for the fourth quarter and full year 2000. "Our financial...