An Open Competition of Professional Mastery of Specialists in Installation and Measurements of Communication Cables among enterprises of St. Petersburg and Moscow was held in the framework of the Norwecom-2006 exhibition on 15th-16th February 2006 in the A.S. Popov Central Museum of Communications in St. Petersburg. Specialists of the St. Petersburg companies Lentelefonstroy and Peterstar and employees of the Moscow companies MGTS, Telecom MTK, Mostelefonstroy, and Promsvyazmontazh took part in the competition. North-West Telecom was represented at the competition by professionals of the branches Petersburg Telephone Network and Lensvyaz.

The competition was held in two nominations: installation of copper core cables and measurement of the parameters of copper core cables.  The participants were judged by the results of performing a practical and theoretic assignments consisting of questions on the production processes and accident prevention.  The assignments of the competition provided for the performance of all basic process steps. The participants could use various processes and certified materials and accessories.  Experts and the competition commission checked (identified) the work that had been done for airtightness.

On the second day of the competition, on 16th February, master classes were held on measurement of the parameters of communication cables, as well as presentations of new equipment and products of manufacturing companies, to which the participants of the conference "Modern Processes of Design, Construction and Operation of Linear Communication Cablework STLKS-2006" had been invited.

The following teams became winners in the competition:

 - 1st place: the PTN branch of OJSC North-West Telecom represented by Alexandr Nikolayevich Lukin, Sergey Gennadyevich Taykov and Alexandr Leonidovich Shkatyrev.

 - 2nd place: the Lensvyaz branch of OJSC North-West Telecom represented by Maxim Alexandrovich Grashchenkov, Alexandr Borisovich Kalinin and Alexandr Nikolayevich Borisov.  

 - 3rd place: the team from Moscow representing  Telecom MTK.

The traditions of holding professional mastery competitions among communication cable line installation specialists are several scores of years old.   The today's competition continues the tradition laid down in 2003, when cable specialists of the leading St. Petersburg and Moscow communication companies met in a competition for the first time.   

A regional competition among communication specialists of the North-West are still ahead.  It will take place in autumn 2006 and will precede the second Open (All-Russia) competition in February 2007.

All participants of the competition have been awarded souvenirs, certificates of participation and gifts from sponsor companies. The winner teams have received diplomas and have been awarded tourist trips to Finland and Sweden.