Video conferencing is experiencing a boom in Russia due to heightened fear of air travel after the Sept. 11 tragedy in the United States and advances in technology that have made the practice increasingly affordable.

"Demand for video-conferencing services grew substantially after the Sept. 11 events," said Veronika Valuyeva, a manager at the Mariott Tverskaya hotel business center located in downtown Moscow. "There was an increase in demand of about 40 percent. Our customers, primarily multinationals with offices in Moscow, now tend to be more concerned about security issues, and they also prefer to save on transportation costs."

The hotel is planning to open a separate facility for video conferences in March to meet the demand, she added.

"We experienced an upsurge in demand for videoconferencing services after last September's terrorist attack in New York," said Alexei Yefimov, a spokesman for Combellga, a Moscow-based telecom-services provider. "It wasn't a boom, but still quite noticeable," he said.

Recent advances in technology that helped cut communications costs have also contributed to the popularity of video conferences, experts say.

"Prices for communication services have gone down," said Vitaly Rykov, an IT analyst at the World Bank in Moscow, adding that, as people learn more about IT, they begin using more sophisticated technology.

"Fax messages are gradually being replaced by e-mail, and, similarly, video conferences are beginning to replace meetings in person," Rykov said. The Moscow office of the World Bank has been using video conferencing for about six years, he added.

The World Bank holds three to four video conferences a week via its communications channel to Washington, D.C., provided by Global One, Rykov said.

"The service is gaining popularity," said Vladimir Vakulin, a spokesman for Telmos, a Moscow-based firm that was a pioneer in providing video-conferencing services back in 1994.

"In Russia, the introduction period has been longer than in the West, but the prospects are good," he noted.

Analysts say the popularity of video-conferencing service is set to grow, bringing about higher incomes for service providers.

"This is an interesting and promising service," said Nadezhda Golubeva, an analyst at Aton brokerage in Moscow. "Demand for it will grow and so will revenues, but it is difficult to predict how soon it will happen."

These types of services are provided in Russia primarily by alternative telecom operators, while, for the state-run Svyazinvest, a fixed-line and wireless telecom giant, the proportion of all new IT services does not exceed one or two percent, Golubeva said.

"For alternative telecom operators, the proportion of video-conference services is higher, but the exact figure is difficult to come by because this information is normally not disclosed," she said.

Igor Nemov, a spokesman for En-Trade, a Moscow-based telecoms firm, said he could not give the proportion of video-conferencing services in the company's total revenue, citing commercial confidentiality.

En-Trade has been providing video-conferencing services since 1995, and the proportion of Russian clients of this service to multinationals is approximately 40-60 percent, Nemov said.