On 16th March 2009 the 150th birthday of Alexandr Stepanovich Popov, Russian scientist and engineer who invented the first radio communication device, is celebrated.

The invention of radio communication is one of the most outstanding achievements of human thought and scientific and technological advance, which underlies the creation of today's information and telecommunication systems, having opened a new stage in the history of mankind.

On 7th May the era of radio began. On that day, at a meeting of the Russian Society of Physics and Chemistry A.S. Popov, a teacher of the Kronshtadt Mine Officers' Class reported that he had created a wireless signalling device using electromagnetic waves – today we call this radio communication or just radio. Later, as equipment became more and more sophisticated and the selectivity of receivers improved, voice communication became possible. This invention underlies the development of all types of telecommunication services. It has taken long years and combined efforts of many scientists and engineers to develop A. S. Popov's invention and to bring it to the level of telecommunications we are witnessing now.

Today the world cannot be imagined without the radio, television, telephone or the Internet... Telecommunications are used everywhere, which makes it possible to reduce distances and makes people's life brighter, richer and more exciting. You just lift the handset or click the mouse and the distance disappears! Freedom of communication is the base value we, telecommunication people have given to people. Therefore, our most urgent task is to further develop telecommunication services, to expand the range, to improve the quality of people's lives and to develop business connections. We can implement all this thanks to work of the great Russian scientist A. S. Popov.

You can read more about A. S. Popov's life and activities at the official OJSC N.W. Telecom's web site, entering the specialized section via a banner from the home page.