Introduction of modern telecommunications equipment in Russia and the New Republics

We describe the process of introducing new equipment for the telecommunications networks of the former USSR, taking into account our personal experience. First, it is important that we are dealing mainly with local switching, so the examples discussed are mainly from this particular field. Today the former Soviet Union is still a united country from the point of view of telecommunications (and telephony in particular). Though different countries have gained their independence, the telephone network is still united and built according to the same technical standards and regulations. In all the new countries; local calls are not billed as yet and additional services are virtually nonexistent, so it is impossible to generate revenue providing them. Local administrations need to install new equipment in order to upgrade their services, thus making it possible to earn more income from users. The three main sources of income are: installation and subscriber fees; payments on a per-call or per-time-unit basis; and payments for services and special features. Currently, the Republic´s administrations are trying to increase the first item, which can be achieved by upgrading the old electromechanical switches and the analog network.<>