Gordon Feller

The growth of Russia’s Internet penetration rate could give a boost to the fledgling Web-based stock-trading sector, according to several industry officials. But insiders say it will be a long time before the Internet can attract much of the $40 billion to $50 billion of hidden individual savings in the country. Currently, Moscow Stock Exchange’s […]

Making its second splash in the IT sector in as many days, Golden Telecom announced Wednesday that it had acquired 100 percent of the country’s second leading ISP, Cityline, and a controlling stake in Yekaterinburg-based ISP Uralrelcom. The deals put GTI over the top as the country’s leading Internet provider, ahead of Sistema-owned MTU-Intel. GTI […]

The Internet has been one of the last frontiers unconquered by Russia’s galling government regulations, but that may soon change. During its spring session, the national parliament (known as the State Duma) is gearing up to consider as many as 15 bills to regulate the Internet, said a Duma official. “We need to manage our […]

[Moscow, RUSSIA] Leaping forward in merging the Internet with the cellular world, Moscow’s dominant local mobile telephony operator Vimpelcom formally launched its BeeOnline-Portal (www.beeonline.ru) last week, adding new features such as e-mail and a monthly charge. Vimpelcom first vice president Nikolai Pryanishnikov told a news conference that the “price wars” with Mobile Telesystems, or MTS, […]

The Ukraine’s Net sector is hoping that recent major investment into a local Internet start-up could spark a minor funding frenzy in the region’s fledgling Web industry. SputnikMedia.net announced earlier this month that it had raised $500,000 from a group of international investors. It is the largest publicly announced outside investment into a local Internet […]

[Moscow, RUSSIA] After more than a year and 20 lawsuits, U.S. camera giant Eastman Kodak finally won a case in a Moscow court against the man who operates the Internet site kodak.ru. In a decision Kodak called historically important for the Russian Internet, the Moscow arbitration court ruled Wednesday that businessman Alexander Gundul has no […]

[Moscow, RUSSIA] Golden Telecom (GTI), which provides integrated communications services in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), is investing about $50 million in Internet projects in Russia this year, the head of the company’s Internet services division said. “GTI has almost completed this year’s financing targets for the acquisition of Russian Internet companies on the […]

[Moscow, RUSSIA] The Russian Supreme Court took issue with the government’s controversial SORM surveillance program, ruling this week that law enforcement agencies must inform Internet providers and telephone and paging companies if they are listening in on their clients. The case, filed by St. Petersburg journalist Pavel Netupsky, could lead to more far-reaching decisions declaring […]

The race to bring high-speed wireless Internet access to Russia is on. One of the country’ leading cellular operators, Mobile TeleSystems, together with global giant Motorola, announced Tuesday the launch of General Packet Radio Service – a high-speed mobile data network based on Motorola’ own GSM dual-band network. The use of Motorola’sechnology will allow MTS […]

[Moscow, RUSSIA] Some would say it had to happen, eventually: The one sector of the Russian Internet that had remained free of outside investments — that of advertising agencies specializing in the Web — is set for a change of direction. Russian advertising group Video International, which until now specialized in TV, radio and written […]