On 10 October 2007 in Vologda Vyacheslav Pozgalev, the governor of the Vologda region, Vladimir Akulich, the CEO of the OJSC North-West Telecom, held a meeting to discuss the results of the "Agreement of Cooperation between the Government of the Vologda Region and OJSC North-West Telecom" signed in January, 2005.

In his address, the head of the region mentioned mutual understanding and interest in further collaboration with the OJSC NWT and expressed his gratitude for large-scale activities of the OJSC NWT aimed at providing phone connection to remote areas of the Vologda region. Vyacheslav Pozgalev said: "Today there is almost no village in the region that wouldn't have telephone connection".

Since 2005, since the execution of the Agreement, the Vologda branch of the OJSC NWT disbursed about 1.7 billions roubles of investments. By October 2007 the number of handsets in the region reached 342 thousands and the level of digitization of the local network exceeded 64,4%. During the same period the company has laid more than 1600 km of optical lines in the Vologda region, extended the installed capacity of the multiservice communications network and launched more than 11 thousands ports for broadband Internet access.

In addition to the active development of the regional infrastructure and introduction of new technologies and services, OJSC NWT also implements in the Vologda region a number of social projects. By 1 September 2007 within the framework of the national project "Education" , the OJSC North-West Telecom ahead of the schedule provided Internet connection to 524 schools of the Vologda region. Another important innovation is the launch of universal telecommunication services. By February 2008 the company will install in the region 3218 universal phone booths, of which 500 are already in use.

Following the Agreement, OJSC NWT continues active development of rural phone network. By end 2007 the company plans to replace 64 analogue exchanges with more modern equipment.

Talking about his vision for the future, Vladimir Akulich said that "by 2010 OJSC NWT will replace all outdated exchanges in the Vologda region with the digital ones thus making it possible to extend the range of modern telecommunications services for the residents and businesses of the region".

The meeting with the head of the region was not the only goal of the visit of the CEO of OJSC NWT to the Vologda region. Vladimir Akulich will also meet the staff of the Vologda branch of the OJSC NWT.