In the course of implementing the provision s of the "Programme of Providing Telecommunication Services to Residents of St. Petersburg for the years 2005-2007" for 9 months of 2006 the queue for telephone installation in St. Petersburg was reduced 4.4 times.   While as of 1st January 2005 the number of unsatisfied applications was 56,700 , as of 1st October 2006 there were 12,800 applications (taking into account the newly submitted applications of the year 2006 ). For the 3rd quarter of 2006 alone the Petersburg branch of OJSC N.W.Telecom satisfied 11,500 applications for telephone installation , over 2,000 of them were received by the telecommunication operator before 1st January 2005.    The installed capacity of the Petersburg branch of OJSC N.W.Telecom as of 01.10.2006 was 2.1 million numbers and the used capacity was 1.98 million numbers.

The purpose of the "Programme of Providing Telecommunication Services to Residents of St. Petersburg" is both to eliminate the queue for telephone installation and to improve the quality of provided services through upgrading the telecommunication networks of the city, increasing the digitalization of the network, which was as large as 49.8 % as of 01.10.06. (as of 01.01.06 the digitalization of the network of the Petersburg branch of OJSC N.W.Telecom was 46.4%, as of 01.01.05 it was 40% and as of 01.01.04 it was 36%).

In 2006 North-West Telecom switched over all decade-step exchanges of St. Petersburg to digital equipment. In the 3rd quarter over 44,000 numbers of analogue equipment were replaced by digital equipment. Among other exchanges, the Gertsenovskaya telephone exchange, which provides services to subscribers of the historical centre of the city, has been switched over to up-to-date equipment. Now the quality of communication has been noticeably improved for residents of the central district s of St. Petersburg, and it has become possible to use extra services provided by an electronic telephone exchange (notification of the receipt of a new call, temporary prohibition of outgoing communication by a password, call forwarding, conference communication, shortened dialing, etc.). Besides, replacement of the equipment has made it possible to deblock 1000 shared lines.

One of the priorities in the operation of OJSC NWT is the preferential telephone installation for veterans of the Great Patriotic War and equal categories of citizens.   For the 3rd quarter of 2006 sixty one telephones were installed for the disables and participant s of WW II and for those who had stayed in Leningrad during the blockade. As a result, by 1st October 2006 there were no unsatisfied applications for telephone installation from the said category of citizens in the Petersburg branch.   

Provided the Programme is successful ly implemented, by the year 1998 the queue for telephone installation in St. Petersburg will be eliminated, and all newly filed applications will be satisfied within 6 months.