On 5th March 2007 a meeting between   V.A. Akulich, General Manager of OJSC North-West Telecom, and V.A. Torlopov, Head of the Republic of Komi, took place in Syktyvkar. An Addendum to the Agreement of Cooperation between the Government of the Republic of Komi and OJSC North-West Telecom was signed during the meeting as to the prospects of telecommunication s development in the region for 2007 .  

In accordance with the signed document , in 2007 North-West Telecom will continue active investment activities aimed at developing and renovating telecommunication networks of the the Republic of Komi. The total amount of investment will be at least 560 million roubles, which is 1.5 times more than in the last year.*   In 2007 the construction of fibre-optic communication lines, including the sections Aikino - Mikun - Usogorsk, Syktyvkar - Kortkeros - Ust-Kulom, Irael - Izhma - Ust-Tsilma, will be continued; the transmission systems of the earlier laid communication line Synya-Usinsk will be upgraded, and the construction of the digital radio relay communication lines in the Vogvazdino - Aikino - Zheshart section will be completed. The telephone capacity of the Company in the Republic will increase by at least 3,000 telephone lines in 2007 .   

Introduction of universal telecommunication services will become one of the priority areas of OJSC N.W.Telecom's activities in 2007 . In December 2006 the Company was recognized the winner of the competition for the right of providing universal telephone communication services using payphone s in the territory of the Republic of Komi . According to the terms of the competition, 616 universal payphone s will be installed in 607 settlements of Komi.  

In the framework of the federal Education programme, OJSC N.W.Telecom is planning to connect 165 schools of the Republic to broadband Internet.

The Head of the Republic of Komi has thanked the management of North-West Telecom for its active work in the region. He has noted that " telecommunications are rapidly developing in the Republic of Komi, the enterprise always pays all taxes and participates in social projects. Signing addenda to the Agreement of Cooperation means support of the Company 's activities in the Republic of Komi by the Government of the Republic and appreciation of its influence on the development of the economy in the region".

Signing the Addendum to the Agreement of Cooperation is not the only purpose of OJSC N.W.Telecom 's General Manager 's visit to the Republic   of   Komi .   V.A. Akulich   has taken part in the ceremony of opening the first universal servicing payphone in the Republic of Komi in the village of Lezym and visited the first Internet festival for school children in the Republic , which was organized by the Komi branch of OJSC N.W.Telecom jointly with the Ministry of Education and High School of the Republic of Komi.

The current Agreement of Cooperation between OJSC N.W.Telecom and the Government of the Republic of Komi was signed in October 2004 ( see OJSC N.W.Telecom's Press Release of 06.11.2004). Establishing efficient cooperation between the Government of the Republic of Komi and OJSC North-West Telecom in the field of telecommunications development in the region is the subject of the agreement . In April 2006 an Addendum to the Agreement of Cooperation setting forth plans for telecommunications development in Komi for 2006 was signed.

* In 2006 the volume of OJSC N.W.Telecom 's investment n the development and renovation of telecommunication networks and facilities of the Republic of Komi amounted to 390 million roubles. More than 15,500 new telephone networks were put into operation.   The construction of telecommunication fibre-optic lines was completed in the section s Synya-Usinsk   (116 km) and Syktyvkar - Vizinga - Shiroky Priluk (209 km). The Company upgraded the radio relay telecommunication line in the Pechora - Vorkuta section. The multiservice network of the Republic was expanded by more than 4,000 DSL ports in 2006 . According to the results of 2006, being one of the biggest tax-payers, OJSC N.W.Telecom transferred more than 196 million roubles to the budget of the Republic of Komi , which is 2% more than in the last year. More than 151 million roubles were transferred to off-budget funds, which 63% more than for the same period of 2005. One of the priorities was implementation of the federal Education project: 160 general educational institutions , including 50 schools in rural areas, were connected to broadband Internet in the framework of this project in 2006 and in the first months of 2007.