|
Аkihiko Satake
Head of the Moscow Representative Office
NEC Corporation
русская версия
NEC Corporation started its business in Russia in the late 1960s. The first delivery comprised electronic components for a Soviet-manufactured earth station; this was followed by building a radio-relay link.
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, on the event of the Moscow Olympic Games, the company supplied a lot of systems (for the most part, radio equipment) to Russia. With great satisfaction we point out that the Olympic Games were broadcasted worldwide with the help of our INTELSAT earth stations installed in Dubna.
In the 1990s, at the dawn of a new epoch in the history of the Russian Federation, NEC Corporation supplied the first digital radio-relay link Moscow-St Petersburg-Kingisepp for Rostelecom. Later this link was extended up to Khabarovsk. We take particular pride in this major, historically important project, named TSL (Trans-Siberian Line), because the supplied line is the longest radio-relay link in the world.
At that time we also started to actively contribute to the development of domestic advanced technologies in the telecommunications area in Russia. A contract to transfer fiber optic equipment production technologies was signed with EZAN, and negotiations on the possibility of establi-shing a joint venture for telecom equipment manufacture were started with PTN.
It so happened that Telecom Forum was established at the same time when NEC Corporation decided to deploy a new business aspect in Russia. The Telecom Forum membership agreement was signed by Mr V.B. Bulgak, the Minister for Communications of the Russian Federation, and our President, Mr Kaneko, during the international exhibition Telecom'95 in Geneva.
Thorough analysis of the history of NEC Corporation business in Russia shows clearly that at a certain stage we obtained a new, additional facility to work with customers and administration bodies more closely and effectively – thanks to Telecom Forum.
Ten years of Telecom Forum existence coincided with serious qualitative transformations and explosive growth of telecommunications infrastructure in Russia. I am certain that Telecom Forum has played not a small part in the evolution of this sector of economy. I keep recalling one of the hottest debates I have ever observed in the business, that took place between representatives of the Russian Ministry for Anti-Monopoly Policies and telecom operators on a club day, when the discussion time had to be doubled or tripled as compared to the usual agenda.
Neither can we forget a very pleasant event – the first meeting in the Telecom Forum history that was held outside Russia, namely, a club reception arranged at the World Telecom Show in Geneva last year.
As a Co-Chairman of the Telecom Forum Supervisory Board, NEC Corporation shall try to make a maximal contribution into the club work and do our best to help our nonprofit partnership create an even more comfortable and pleasant atmosphere for all the members of the Forum.
|
