Armenian government deprives telecom giant of monopoly

Arminfo
4 Nov 04

YEREVAN

The Armenian government has approved the candidacy of a second
cellular communications operator in Armenia, the K-Telecom closed-type
joint-stock company.

The Armenian government press service reports that K-Telecom’s
application has been considered and approved by the tender commission
led by Communications and Transport Minister Andranik Manukyan. The
commission was set up late at night yesterday under decision No 1238
of the Armenian government dated 4 November 2004. According to a
source in the government, the K-Telecom company is an Armenian
subsidiary of the Nagornyy Karabakh cellular communications operator,
the Karabakh Telecom closed-type joint-stock company.

At its extraordinary session yesterday, the Armenian government
decided to deprive the ArmenTel company of a monopoly on cellular
communications. The government decided to deprive ArmenTel of the
monopoly on GSM services, cellular satellite communications and
special radio communications on the 900 MHz frequency.

The new communications operator will have an opportunity to connect
its network to the network of the ArmenTel company. In return,
ArmenTel will have the exclusive right to Internet and telephony
services. The executive authorities instructed the justice minister to
hold negotiations within 10 days and to conclude an agreement with the
ArmenTel company on behalf of the Armenian government.

Arminfo learnt that Karabakh Telecom had purchased and leased land in
Yerevan back in October 2003 for aerials for a future cellular
communications network. Karabakh Telecom Director-General Ralf
Eyrikyan has neither confirmed nor denied this information. Karabakh
Telecom has invested 15m dollars in the Karabakh cellular
communications. According to the latest data, there are 3,500 cellular
communications subscribers in Karabakh.

The Karabakh Telecom closed-type joint-stock company gained a licence
of the Nagornyy Karabakh government in February 2002 to jointly own
the Nagornyy Karabakh telecommunications network for 30 years.