The operator noted that number of subscribers, who want to congratulate their relatives and friends, and the peak load fell to share of the first hours of New Year. At the same time, number of spent SMS messages increases several times compared to voice calls.

Unitel Technical Director Anton Golikov said that the December measures on preparation of network to New Year holidays allowed the operator to stand the peak load. He added that SMS-traffic in first hours of January grew six times compared to 31 December and the operator processed all volume without any disruption.

From 07:00 of 31 December to 07:00 of 1 January 2001, Beeline subscribers have sent about 10 million SMS messages, which exceeds average daily figure three times. If to count that each SMS replaced one congratulation card, Beeline users saved 100 tonnes of paper or 5,000 trees.

It is worth to mention that Beeline subscribers have sent 500 messages per second in the first hours of New Year.