News
 |
In 2006 United Nations General Assembly declared May 17th as a World Telecommunications and Information Society Day. Till then this day was celebrated as World Telecommunications Day marking the founding of ITU (International Telecommunications Union) and the signing of the first International Telegraph Convention in 1865.
The main goal of World Telecommunications Day is to highlight the importance of communication and how information travels across the world. It also aims to increase awareness of how crucial communication is in our lives, and stimulate the development of technologies in the field.
Today is a perfect occasion to remember the beginning of mobile services in Lithuania after regaining the Independence in 1990.
"I got interested in exploring business possibilities in Lithuania even before the declaration of the Independence Act on March 11, 1990, I was already considering ways in which I could get involved in the economy of the country. The idea for forming a cellular (mobile) telephone company unexpectedly came to me back then for political reasons. My initial efforts were to find ways to provide the Sąjūdis movement, later on, the government officials of Lithuania with a communications channel that was free of Moscow control," shares Joseph Kazickas in his autobiography "Odyssey of Hope".
OMNITEL was born from Joseph Kazickas' initiative when Lithuania and other Baltic states didn't have independent forms of communication - all telecommunications were going through Moscow which back then didn't allow occupied countries to communicate with the world. In 1992 OMNITEL built a satellite station and freed Lithuania from Russian telecommunications network dictatorship by providing opportunities to build relationships with entire world. Communication by modern telecommunications means were and still is extremely important, because people's free connections are a base of democracy. The right to express free political, religious, social and other views is prerequisite to democracy, as well as individual's personal source of honor and power.
President Valdas Adamkus emphasized in 2008 that " Joseph Kazickas led Lithuania to the 21st century communications world through OMNITEL. If not for him, connection with the world wouldn't have happened back then. Joseph Kazickas worked hard to find ways to make every person's life in Lithuania better".