On 30 October 2003, celebration of the centenary of the Belgorod Telephone Network foundation took place. On the eve of the anniversary, a visiting enlarged meeting of the Management Board of the merger Company, JSC CenterTelecom, was held with participation of the managers of the telecom affiliate companies of the 17 regions making up the Central Federal District of Russia.

The Belgorod telecom Affiliate Company was afforded such honor considering, first and foremost, its successful operating results, and accomplishments in building and reconstructing its public switched network. The Affiliate Company laid over 1 000 km of fiber-optic lines and brought digitization of the wards of the region to a practical completion. All the wards are now interconnected into the Region's unified digital transport system. The installed capacity of the regional network is 361 937 numbers as of 1 October 2003.

A press conference was held within the framework of the festivities, which was attended by the Belgorod Region Administration officials, JSC CenterTelecom General Director Mr. R.A. Amaryan and the Company's Deputy General Director Mr. G.N. Kuzmenko, the latter simultaneously being Director of "Belsvyaz", CenterTelecom affiliate entity, as well as by the managers of the related telecommunications industries of the Region and mass media people.

It was stressed at the press conference on the occasion that the Belgorod Region was the telling example of a productive interaction in the market environment of the local executive power authority and JSC CenterTelecom as business enterprise in creating efficient telecommunications infrastructure in the constituent of the Russian Federation. Owing, in a big way, to the concernment of the first persons in the Region's Administration, the attitude of the Federal entity leadership and heads of the Region's local administrations to the resolution of the issue of securing quality development of telecommunications in the Region cardinally changed.

The "Belsvyaz" present-day telecommunications infrastructure adrenalizes the development of business in the Region. Various enterprises, banks, trading, sales and other agencies of the Belgorod Region will have a possibility to apply efficacious up-to-date information technologies, such as non-cash circulation of monetary assets, plastic card systems and various types of electronic commerce, telemedicine, distant learning, and the like, in their daily activities.

The same day, the Museum of Telecommunications was inaugurated. Such a museum of both historical and technical nature is the first and the sole one not only in the Belgorod Region, but in the entire Southern Russia. It is established with an active support rendered by the leaders and specialists of "Belsvyaz", JSC CenterTelecom affiliate, and by local telecommunications veterans.

The jubilee events were concluded with a gala concert to honor the employees of the CenterTelecom Affiliate Company "Belsvyaz", and with a display of colorful fireworks.

30.10.2003