A cellular network has been launched in Tver. The network was built by Tver Cellular Communications which was founded by Moscow Cellular Communications and Rossviazinform of the Tver region. Given the low number of potential subscribers in Tver, about 300, calls will be routed through Moscow Cellular’s switch in Moscow. The big bonus of the service in Tver is it gives users a Moscow phone number. The Tver network was created as a part of a larger project to interconnect NMT-450 systems in Moscow, St Petersburg and the Baltic States. The project is carried out by Moscow Cellular, Rossviazinform and Delta Telecom, a St Petersburg-based NMT-450 operator. Under this plan, the consortium will install several base stations along the autoroute between Moscow and St Petersburg which will enable the customers of both networks to travel in and between the two cities with their handsets. According to the Russian Minister of Communications, Vladimir Bulgak, the Ministry even has plans to supply trains and planes travelling between the two cities with cellular pay phones. However, given the existing tariffs on cellular communications in Russia – a local cellular call is comparable to the price of an international call via a public network – travellers will be unlikely to be queuing up to use these mobile pay phones.
