Bull ridicules wholly-owned IBM, says partners are key to success
Groupe Bull SA last week announced the launch of its Distributed Computer Model for the Soviet market. The DCM is a laptop-to-mainframe distributed platform which was launched in Western Europe earlier this year. Ove Lange, vice-president of Bull Europe SA says the company is hoping to build on its 1990 East European success when it secured a huge contract with the Polish Ministry of Finance. Bull is focusing its Eastern European efforts on the state administration, local government and banking sectors. Unlike IBM Corp, which this week made the rather dubious claim that it has set up the first wholly-owned Soviet representative office, Lange says that his company is committed to growth through active partnerships with East European organisations.
Impressive Computer Forum let down by dearth of western support
The second International Computer Forum held in Moscow a couple of weeks ago was probably the year’s most sophisticated Soviet industry event, writes our Moscow correspondent. It was well organised, boasted a very well-informed Soviet audience and attracted a clutch of high powered speakers to Moscow. Sadly, what it seemed to lack was commitment from Western companies. Only a handful of non-Soviet companies took stands. Conference organiser and director general of the ICC, Levan Amdilyan, says events in the Baltics and the Gulf War scared off companies at the time they were deciding whether or not to come. It is unlikely that this indicates that the number of Soviet pioneers is dwindling.
Krystaltech buys worlwide rights to all known ills anti-virus program
The US systems house Krystaltech Inc has bought worldwide distribution rights for Virastop, a Soviet anti virus program its author, Sregey Alekseyev, claims can defeat all known viruses. Virastop was produced by the rather strangely named software company the Soviet Market Research Centre. Despite its name, the young company has developed a number of niche applications it has sold to Western vendors. It is currently in negotiations with the Singapore-based reseller MicroCraft Pte Ltd over distribution rights for Colourscan, an application that eanbles a personal computer to generate colour computer images while using a black and white scanner.
Siemens to manufacture 100,000-line telephone exchanges from 1992
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Siemens AG is to manufacture telephone exchanges in Izhevsk, Russia. A mega joint venture called Izhtel has been formed between Siemens, the Izhevskij Motozavod military industrial amalgamation, the Soviet Ministry of Communications and the Russian Ministry of Communications, Informatics and Space. Izh tel will manufacture digital telephone exchanges in a newly constructed plant to be provided by the Soviet partners. Siemens expects to turn out the first of these 100,000-line exchanges during 1992.
Quest Automation finds that marketing has to be union-wide to be successful
UK-based Quest Automation Ltd is quietly making significant inroads into the Soviet heartlands. Sharper market conditions in Moscow and Leningrad convinced the company that the only way to succeed in the Soviet market was to sell throughout all of it. The company now has 16 dealers including ones based in Perm, Tiblisi and Novosibirsk. It expects to have signed 20 by the end of this summer. Deputy head of the Moscow office is Peter McBride. He says selling anything in the USSR is to aim at a constantly moving target.
Zarya plans to start mass production of radio telephones
Now get this… The industrial amalgamation Zarya (Dawn) says it is all set to start production of prototype radio telephone sets at its three factories in the Russian federation. The units were developed with Eye Micro-Surgery, Moscow, and the New York mobile communications company Millicom Inc. It predicts it will be able to churn out 3m units per annum by the year 2000. There are two slight problems though. Firstly, there is a shortage of technological and manufacturing equipment. Secondly – the large size of electronic components sup
plied by the USSR Electronics Ministry promises to make the phones intolerably bulky.
As 50 Soviet organisations plan Digital Satellite phone network
An association of 50 Soviet organisations has been formed to attempt to solve the Soviet Union’s dire communications problems. Energia Marafon has amassed 540m roubles and plans to launch three 18 ton heavy platform satellites which could be in use by 1994. The principle member of the Association is Energia itself – manufacturer of the world’s biggest space launcher, and the only launcher currently capable of taking on such a pro ject. The new service would provide digital communications facilities for the whole of the USSR.
Ministry of Health wants Global Electronic Mail, fax links to siblings
The USSR Ministry of Health is planning a global electronic mail and facsimile system to connect the world’s leading medical centres. The Space for Health program is the responsibility of NPO SoyuzMedinform, an information and research and development association at the Ministry of Health. As part of broader Soviet telecommunications plans, 24 to 36 low orbit satellites are planned to be launched in a network capable of covering the globe by the mid-1990s.
Seiko-Epson looks for assembly partners
Seiko-Epson Corp has let it be known that it is looking to establish production facilities in the Soviet Union. General manager Akio Hattori says the company aims to find suitable partners to set up a screwdriver assembly plant for printers and computers both for domestic sale and for export. The company has still to find a suitable Soviet partner to service and maintain the Seiko-Epson products that are already sold in the Soviet Union.
