We investigate the dynamics of single, soliton-like picosecond pulses propagating in a standard single-mode fibre in the framework of upgrading optical transmission systems consisting of standard single-mode fibres and lumped linear amplifiers with non-equidistant amplifier spacing. We show that within the approach of dynamical soliton communication, which requires an identical pulsewidth at the beginning as well as at the end of each transmission section between two adjacent amplifiers, there is a theoretical limit for the maximum permissible amplifier spacing, depending on the width of the transmitted pulses. This limit can be extended if we admit broadened pulses at the end of each transmission section. This in turn requires an additional device for compressive pulse reshaping (besides the amplifier) to be inserted at the end of each transmission section. Several possibilities to achieve pulse compression are discussed, one of them being the usage of a dispersion-shifted fibre as a soliton-effect compressor.