On November 1, the team of JSC North West Telecom celebrated the fourth anniversary of the amalgamated Company. The morning started with a festive video conference linking the central studio of the General Director's Office in St Petersburg with ten branches of JSC North West Telecom across the whole of the North West. Branch Directors, top management of the Company and trade union representatives greeted the regional studios where personnel of the branches were taking part in the event.

Each Regional Director spoke in turn, and then the regional teams joined in the congratulations. There were many words of gratitude and best wishes said to NWT.

November 1 was a special day not just for the Company's employees: events to mark the anniversary were held in the regions where JSC NWT carries out its activity, including prize draws and presentation of commemorative gifts to customers. Best wishes were said on the radio and regional TV channels, newspapers published articles on the past and future of the Company.

The gala night opened later for the team of OAO North West Telecom in the great room of the Gigant Hall in St Petersburg. The gala was attended by the Company's best employees of widely different occupations and positions.

There was a presentation of results of the I Have an Idea competition, for which there had been submitted 512 applications with suggestions to improve business, technological or organisational components of the Company. The seventeen finalists were announced at the gala. The winners were presented with diplomas and some well-deserved prizes, like laptops or LCD TV screens; the first prize was the certificate for a tour abroad.

Next on stage came the twelve winners of the First Photo Competition of OAO North West Telecom to collect their prizes – diplomas, photo albums, flash cards and photo printers.

Most of attention that day was given to our colleagues which received awards for their faithful, hard work and complete professionalism. They were presented with honorary certificates and acknowledgements of JSC NWT, the main sectoral award of the Master of Telecommunications and the badge of JSC North West Telecom.

The badge is given to those employees of JSC North West Telecom who have made a significant contribution to the establishment and development of the Company and the telecommunications industry in general, have developed and implemented new projects, have introduced state-of-the-art technology and modern modes of production, and have shown complete professionalism and a creative approach to their job.

To mark the Company's Birthday, a badge of JSC NWT was presented to Yu.S. Yegorov, Chief Engineer of the Central Telecom Centre of the Vologda Branch, and to S.V. Efros, Cable Jointer 6th grade of the Communication Lines Operation Workshop of the Arkhangelsk Telecom Centre of the Arkhangelsk Branch.

S.V. Efros had been working in the telecommunications industry for thirteen years, twelve of them – in our Company. In 2005-2006, as one of the best cable jointers at the Arkhangelsk Telecom Centre, he was involved heavily in the construction of over twenty new facilities of the Arkhangelsk cable network. His knowledge of the cable facilities in Arkhangelsk, Novodvinsk and the Primorsky District of the Arkhangelsk Region, including the remote island areas, is exemplary. In 2006 he actively participated in the universal servicing programme to develop data for the cable line structures used to connect payphones in the remote districts of Arkhangelsk. Sergey Vladimirovich is always trying to optimize his work, always looking for unconventional solutions. Last year he was awarded a prize in a professional skill competition of cable joiners at the branch.

Yu.S. Yegorov has been working for the Company for 37 years, has a medal For Labour Merit and the rank of the Master of Telecommunications. Yuriy Sergeyevich supervises directly the active construction of intrazonal fibre-optic transfer lines in the Vologda Region, where the analogue transfer and switching systems are being replaced with the modern digital ones. A developed telecom Internet network in the Vologda branch is a great achievement of Yu.S. Yegorov. He supervises an enormous amount of work to provide SHDSL and ADSL services to educational institutions under the national Education project.