26 August 2003
Modern Siemens telephone exchange launched in Brest
A modern telephone exchange manufactured by Germany's Siemens was launched in the regional capital of Brest last Thursday.
The EWSD v.15 switch replaced a 1959 ATS-21 unit that once served Soviet government offices and the central residential area.
The Siemens exchange can serve up to 10,000 numbers, while occupying just 30 square meters of space.
The huge old apparatus filled a whole story – 1000 square meters.
Participating in the launching ceremony were Vasily Dolgolyov, chairman of the Brest Regional Executive Committee; Belarusian Communications Minister Vladimir Goncharenko; and Wolfgang Hub, Siemens' sales officer for the CIS and Central Asia.
After the ceremony was over, the VIPs proceeded to a school of general education in the village of Chechni near Brest to attend the opening of an Internet class there. Computers for the class had been donated by Siemens.
According to Yury Ostapchuk, sales director with the Brest Regional Telecommunications Enterprise (Brestobltelecom), his agency plans to provide free web access for the school from September 1, 2003 to May 31, 2004.
http://brestonline.com/en/news/news455.html