Samsung Electronics Co has launched its SDX-100 switch in Makhachkala, capital of Dagestan. The project is worth $4.5m and the switch will support 20,500 local telephone lines and 8,640 long distance lines, although the inter-city capacity will probably lie idle for some time. Until recently Makhachkala was connected to Moscow by 1,750 long distance channels. These were destroyed during the war in Chechnya and the Ministry of Communications said it will take three to four years in order to replace them. Samsung has plans to build an advanced mobile cellular network and a paging network in Makhachkala. Naum Marder, deputy minister of communications, said what Samsung did had a great significance, showing that it is possible to invest in a region regarded as dangerous.
