<emb110|right>The Vice Minister for Telecommunications and Mass Communications of the Russian Federation has delivered an address to the International 3GPP Forum, Moscow, 9th October 2008.

Messages of support were also received from representatives of the State Duma of the Russian Federation and the Council of Federation, telling delegates that "this Forum gives a unique opportunuty for joint efforts that would contribute to introduction of new technologies".

Vice Minister Professor Naum Marder encouraged Russian Industry leaders and visitors from 3GPP to build a productive dialogue on standards, he told delegates that the Government understands that there is a need for flexible and effective legislation and that the results of this dialogue could serve as a foundation for effective state decisions.

The Forum featured discussions on the latest developments in 3GPP specifications and feedback from Russian representatives, including mobile operators; VimpelCom, Sky Link, MegaFon and Mobile TeleSystems.

Andrey Skorodumov, CEO of the Infocommunication Union (ICU) which represents the Russian Industry in 3GPP told delegates that “Operators are deploying 3G and there is great interest in HSPA and LTE. This is the right moment for this event as Russian operators decide their evolution strategies towards LTE”.

The 3GPP presentations from the event are now available on-line

Notes to editors

Infocommunication Union was created as a result of reorganization of the Third Generation Telecommunication Networks Operators Association (3G Association), which was established in 1999 by the major Russian mobile networks operators. The ICU partners are ITU-T, CEPT/ECC, ETSI, 3GPP, GSMA, UMTS Forum, GSA, CDG, IA450, OMA, World DMB Forum, CRFC, MTUCI, Wireless Ukraine, IPI RAN. www.icu.org.ru