February 11, 2005
Mobile phones help Chechens spread the word
In the half-ruined Chechen capital, a vast majority of inhabitants still consider running water and standard telephone lines a luxury, and few can afford a mobile phone. However, mobile phone sales are on a steady rise, reports the Associated Press.
[...] Today mobile phones are accessible to all, without a prior registration with the FSB security service -- unlike in 2003, when the first civilian users, primarily members of the pro-Russian administration, had to apply for authorisation.
As for whether the network is tapped, the spokesman for Mobikom-Kavkaz -- Megafon's operator in the region -- would not comment. "This is secret information," he said.
Locals in their turn avoid mentioning names or the rendezvous locations in their mobile conversations -- just in case.
Ruslan too confessed he did not feel himself completely free of the shadow -- his SIM card does not work anywhere but Chechnya.
That is because allowing Chechen telephones to operate in the whole of Russia is subject to "authorisation by the secret services," said Grechko of Mobikom-Kavkaz, whose office is lodged in Russia's southern city of Krasnodar.
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