Even the antiquated Russian telecommunications network is capable of pulling off some great surprises. Each year, when President Vladimir Putin holds virtual court with his citizens, calls come in from hundreds of distant villages and cities from across the former Soviet Union. One such event in 2002 logged more than 8,000 calls.

Such miracles are rare, and Russian businesses are increasingly aware of the need for reliable and modern communication. Slowly, but surely, the telecom landscape is changing, and the Russian market now has a number of companies that hook clients up to modern digital and dedicated Internet lines. Most Russian households still use pulse-dial, analog telephones that work through exchanges that can turn a call abroad into a major exercise.

The digital communications and Internet market is booming at the moment, especially in Moscow and St. Petersburg. When renting premises for their business, a growing number of companies also want modern communications access from leading Russian telecommunications operators, and the competition is expanding between operators such as MTU-Intel, GoldenLine, Combellga and Korbina Telecom. There are some 20,000 dedicated Internet lines in Moscow today, compared with about 6,000 in 2000. In St. Petersburg - the leader in high-speed Internet connections through old phone lines -the ADSL technology' sales leader is WebPlus, a subsidiary of Telecominvest Holding.

Most of the increase in dedicated Internet lines is represented by broadband ADSL access. Dmitry Dronov, marketing director at MTU-Inform, told The Russia Journal that alternative Moscow telecommunications operators using the 095 prefix have a dedicated telephone capacity of slightly under 1 million. "All the telephone-switchboard stations built after 1990 are digital," he said. "The digital-telephone market is still one of the most stable in the sector, with most growth coming through offering clients additional services such as Internet access, cable TV, virtual private networks, call centers, etc.? "Tougher competition and increasing demands from clients have made it necessary to consolidate resources, Dronov said, adding that the main players on the Moscow market today are MTU-Inform, Comstar, Golden Telecom and Combellga.

As for the Petersburg market, Mikhail Novikov, CEO and founder of ADMIN Ltd, said that "the main players on the digital lines client are PeterStar, Metrocom, Golden Telecom and WebPlus. They control 70