The Eleventh International Specialized Telecommunications Show “Norvekom-2004” was opened on February 24th in the “Lenexpo” exhibition complex in St. Petersburg.

As it was expected, the biggest mobile network operators such as “BeeLine”, “MTS”, “MegaFon” and “SkyLink” presented the largest and the most distinctive expositions there. Keeping aloof, “Tele2” refused to take part in the show on the grounds that it was economizing and had a lack of ambition. “Tele2” representatives were caught sight of at the entrance to “Lenexpo” however. The two largest operators simultaneously declared their plans to launch the “Wi-Fi” network; “MegaFon” introduced its test exploitation, and “MTS” promised to start its commercial operation in the first half of 2004.

At a press conference preceding the exhibition, officials declared that the Northwest region has completed the first stage of the journey toward a digital society - the technological foundations are in place - and the second stage - creating a unified information area - has started.

In St. Petersburg, mobile telephone service consumption exceeds fixed-line usage by 10 percent, and this year's loudest message is that the country's great leap forward in technology covers virtually all communication industries, even the traditionally backward postal services, they said. Up to 12 percent of Russians use the Internet at least occasionally, and St. Petersburg consistently rates second behind Moscow in terms of the number of personal computers per head of population, said a representative of City Hall's communications committee.

News source: www.stpete.org
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