K-TELECOM LIKELY TO START OPERATION IN 2005 AUGUST
ArmenPress
Nov 9 2004
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 9, ARMENPRESS: Armenian justice minister David
Harutunian reasoned today against claims accusing the government
of lack of transparency and integrity, prompted by a swift bidding
called and administered during a weekly cabinet meeting last week
that announced K-Telecom, a subsidiary of Karabagh Telecom, as an
alternative mobile phone operator in Armenia. During a briefing
with journalists today the minister said that granting a license to
K-Telecom was ultimately a strategic and political decision, but not
“a choice of the best operator.”
The minister went on to argue that Karabagh-Telecom was not just
a mere mobile phone operator, but a company ensuring the country’s
defense. “The company provides excellent communication, including
also mobile phone communication, across the entire territory of
Nagorno Karabagh, which is of key importance,” he said, adding also
that Nagorno Karabagh was facing problems when Azerbaijan started an
international campaign to recognize Karabagh Telecom as an illegally
operating company. “The decision to grant the license to K-Telecom is
to help Nagorno Karabagh people not to feel isolated,” the minister
said.
He said the new operator is likely to start full operation in
2005 August, since ArmenTel needs some time to vacate some of GSM
frequencies, now all dominated by it, for the new operator.
Karabagh Telecom is a subsidiary of a Lebanese-owned firm that has
exclusive right on Nagorno-Karabakh’s telecommunications sector. It
is managed by Lebanese nationals Pierre Fattouch and Ralph Yirikian,
who say they have invested $10 million in the entire Karabakh phone
network. The mobile phone tariffs in Nagorno Karabagh are much lower
than in Armenia.