On 8th August 2006, the first call was given from the first universal servicing payphone in the North-West of Russia in the village of Chasovenskaya, Primorsky District, Arkhangelsk Oblast. Representatives of the Arkhangelsk branch of JSC NWT gave the first user of the universal service, a resident of the Chasovenskaya village, Valentina Alexandrovna Manukhina, a unified payphone card for payment for payphone universal services of communication for 10000 rate units.

By the moment, 313 universal servicing payphones have been prepared for operation in 17 districts of Arkhangelsk Oblast.  In 2006 - 2007 JSC North-West Telecom is planning to install over 2874 payphones in remote settlements of Arkhangelsk Oblast that have no telephone communication.

Payphones have been installed in convenient public places according to the requirements and rules of providing universal communication services. A distinguishing feature of the universal servicing payphone is that it can be used not only to give a phone call – a free incoming call can be received to it.  Each payphone is assigned a telephone number, which is written on the phone use rules placed inside the phone semi-booth.

Universal servicing payphone cards with the face value of RUR 100 can be bought at Clients Servicing Centres of the Arkhangelsk branch of JSC North-West Telecom.   The per-minute rate of a local connection is 40 kopecks. Long-distance and international calls are charged for at the rates of telecommunications operators.

JSC North-West Telecom has become the winner of the tender for the right of providing universal telephone communication services using payphones in Arkhangelsk Oblast and Kaliningrad Oblast. According to the terms of the tender, the Kaliningrad branch of JSC North-West Telecom will install 572 payphones in 559 settlements of Kaliningrad Oblast during 2006 – 2007.