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percent of this segment."
"All of these companies have links of one kind or another to the four big Russian telecommunications players: Svyazinvest, AFK Sistema, Alfa Group and Telecominvest. Another 100 or so small companies also offer digital-line services in Petersburg, the more notable among them being Comset, Admirai Telecom, Lanck, Matrix, St. Petersburg Telegraph, Red Net and Alcor Telecom."
The Petersburg digital-line segment is separate from fiber-optic and trunk lines, which are dominated by Rostelecom, TeliaSonera, Equant, Cable&Wireless and Telecominvest subsidiaries.
Corporate clients can choose from several main telecommunications solutions. The most popular option combines a good digital-telephone network with broadband Internet access.
The simplest option is to install a 2 Mbit/second capacity line divided into 64 Kbit/second slots that can be used to transmit any data. Transmitting a single telephone conversation over a digital line, for example, uses 64 Kbits/second, and so a 2048 Kbit/second capacity line can be broken down into 32 lines of 64 Kbit/second.
This kind of line costs from $1,000. Part of the capacity is allocated to the required number of telephone numbers, while the rest is used for permanent Internet access. The speed of the Internet connection is now slowed even when all the telephone lines are in use, experts said.
The advantage of this service is that it saves on technical resources, as a client uses the same telecommunications line for the telephone and the Internet. Additional telephone services, such as free access to intercity and international calls, conference telephony and incoming call information can also be bought with this package.
"For companies with high demand for data transfer, there is a range of solutions using leased lines," ADMIN's Novikov said. "The total price for this kind of solution...starts at around $500 a month and can reach up to $10,000 a month. Similar services in Europe are usually 30-50 percent cheaper."
Operators usually provide digital-telephone services using their own digital networks based on modern switchboard equipment from companies such as Nokia, NEC and Alcatel and SDH fiber-optic networks. Rather than offering just one line, operators offer five to10 lines for a price starting at $350. The greater the number of lines, the lower the price.
Alexander Gerstav, technical director for a consulting company, said there are added advantages, such as the |
