On Friday 24 October 2003 Russian-British operator Astra Signum hosted the
conference ‘The Way Forward in the New Telecoms Landscape’ in
association with the Russo-British Chamber of Commerce (RBCC) at Alexander House in Moscow.
The event brought together executives and IT managers wishing to optimise the
use of telecommunications’ services in their companies and to raise their level
of competitiveness by leveraging the new generation of multiservice
telecommunications technologies.
The speakers included Prof. Natalia Reznikova, of MTUSI (Moscow Technical
University of Communications) Dr. Yuri Mkhitarian,Managing Director, Interekoms,
Vasili Dedoborsch, Head of Analysis Department, MGTS and Igor Alexeev, Deputy
Director, Astra Signum.
“The telecommunications market in Russia remains one of the fastest growing
sectors of the economy in terms of the overall pace of development of the sector
as well as specific companies. For precisely this reason the theme of today’s
event is extremely topical and should be of interest to all RBCC member
companies,” said Richard Wallace, Director RBCC Moscow, in his
opening remarks.
Professor Natalia Resnikova, a renowned expert in Russian
telecommunications and marketing, gave an interesting insight into the
development of the Russian telecom market. In a speech subtitled ‘Present and
Future Perspectives’ Resnikova talked about the strength of the Russian
telecommunications sector as reflected in increasing investment, which grew to
48.9m roubles in 2002 from just over 30 million roubles in 2000.
The quality of telecommunications services and, more particularly, questions
of how to ensure quality and put in place the necessary systems and processes to
obtain international certification of quality conformance were also key themes.
Dr Mkhitarian of Interecoms spoke of the role of international
standards and conformance certification in promoting good standards of services
and business practices around the world. There is growing recognition of the
importance of quality certification which is reflected in the fact that in 1993
around 28,000 companies around the world were certified to ISO 9000 while by the
end of last year this figure had reached 562,000.
The discussion also touched on development trends in the international
telecommunications’ market. The world telecom market having passed though a
cycle of boom and bust about three years ago is now finding a new equilibrium
and growth. The old telecom landscape which was dominated by the US market has
been displaced by a new much more evenly distributed landscape, explained
Igor Alexeev, Deputy Director of Astra Signum, in his keynote
speech on the conference theme ‘The Way Forward in the New Telecom Landscape’.
Thus, in 2003 China overtook the USA as the largest telecom market in the world.
Alexeev described how Astra Signum had implemented the new
telecommunications’ services internally in order both to benefit from the
advantages of new technology itself and to be able to draw on first-hand user
experience when working with customers. Astra Signum is out there today helping
customers build the new telecom landscape. Why Astra Signum, asked Alexeev?
Because Astra Signum is a Russian-British company that offers a unique approach
to telecoms. It works with top international telecos via its international
gateway in London to provide high-quality value-for-money telephony, internet
and other IP services.
Last but not least, Vasily Dedaborsch gave a stimulating
account of the status and development plans of Moscow’s incumbent telephone
company MGTS, a subject close to the heart of all Muscovites and critical to the
future economic development of the capital. Dedaborsch explained that MGTS is
still the most prolific telephone operator in Moscow today and serves virtually
the entire population of the capital. The company is actively developing its
digital network and plans new construction and the commissioning of new
telephone stations that will increase the numbering capacity by an average of
100-150,000 new telephone number per year. In the immediate future the company
plans to continue providing traditional telephony services while expanding the
range of broadband services offered to corporate clients in particular.
Take a look at the Astra Signum vision of ‘The Way
Forward in the New Telecoms Landscape’ in our conference
presentation.
Russian
Registration 
