COMMUNICATIONS, TELECOMMUNICATIONS
There are 1200 communication units in Tatarstan employing more than 16,000 people.
The number of telephone units exceeds 330,000. Trunk-line connects the Republic with all the largest cities of the CIS and the rest of the world, in addition,
communication is effected by radio-telephone system, FM-transmitters telex and fax systems.
Recognizing the critical role of communications infrastructure to business,
the Tatarstan leadership has forged ahead to acquire the latest in wireless telephony that puts the Republic at the cutting edge of telecommunication technology. In July
1995, a digital wireless system was inaugurated by Hughes Network Systems, a subsidiary of the U.S. firm Hughes Aircraft Company.
Without help from federal funding or Western loans, the Republic has already
paid for two-thirds of the cost of $48 million, which will expand to serve 200,000 clients throughout Tatarstan. Unlike costly satellite and cellular systems, the Tatarstan
system will have low tariffs at a few cents a call and an installation fee starting around $520. The local state-controlled firm Tatincom will operate the Hughes network which is connected directly and cheaply to the local telephone network through
digital switching stations operated by Alcatel-SEL, the German member of the Paris-based Alcatel group.
The new system, which avoids the costs and delays of laying cable, will be a
major step for Tatarstan, whose citizens in the Soviet period had but one telephone per 18 residents, with waiting periods off years to acquire a phone. The system will
allow the entire Republic, even remote villages, to enter the modern world of telecommunications. The HughesCMH2000(TM) system employ's extended Time Division Multiple Access (E-TDMA) technology. designed to handle large amounts of traffic at low
cost.
For its international gateway, Tatincom utilize ATT equipment at its main
office at Azino-2, located on the outskirts of Kazan.
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