In summarizing the business activity of OJSC Southern Telecommunications Company for the first six months of 2002 it should be noted that the company displayed a stable growth trend in all core areas of its joint stock companies.  

Thus, over the reporting period Southern Telecommunications Company generated Rub 4.6 bn from telecom services provided, which is Rub 1 bn more than the same period last year (up 30.3 percent).  

Revenue from telecom services provided to households stood at Rub 2.7 bn, which are growing at a faster pace than overall services (up 32.8 percent).  

It should also be kept in mind that there was a marked improvement in operations performed by smaller telecom operators.  Thus, the volume of services provided by OJSC Elektrosvyaz Republic of Kalmykia was up 45 percent, while Elektrosvyaz, Republic of Adygeia posted a 46.7 percent gain, and OJSC KabBaltelecom achieved an increase of 45.9 percent.  Unfortunately, however, the overall impact of these operators on the bottom line of OJSC Southern Telecommunications Company is only slightly more than 1 percent.  Growth rates by larger telecoms were also quite healthy, though, hovering in the range of 25, 31.6 and as high as 36.7 percent.  

The revenue structure of OJSC Southern Telecommunications Company therefore remains nearly the same, except for the fact that long-distance (international) telecom has taken a leadership position.  The total volume of cash generated from the sale of telecom services totaled Rub 2.5 bn (up 54.9 percent).  Local telephone traffic was also looking good, with sales accounting for Rub 1.7 bn  (up 37.1 percent).  

"New telecom (value-added) services" also appear to be developing at a rapid pace.  While in 2001 the volume of "new services" accounted for 3.1 percent in the overall amount of tariff revenues, in H1 2002 they accounted for 2.8 percent.  

Thus, the financial indices of OJSC Southern Telecommunications Company exceeded analysts' expectations and can be summed up as follows: 

ARPU stands at Rub 1,450, a growth of 24.1 percent year-on-year;

Revenue per employee stands at Rub 105,000, a growth of 36.9 percent year-on-year;

LD/INT traffic per line stands at Rub 229,600, a growth of 19 percent year-on-year;

Number of lines per employee stands at Rub 72,400, a growth of 10.3 percent year-on-year; 

On the strength of the foregoing financial statistics for the first six months of 2002 it can be concluded that OJSC Southern Telecommunications Company will post a strong performance in 2002.