ARMINFO News Agency
September 20, 2005

ROBERT KOCHARYAN: AFTER MOBILE COMMUNICATION MARKET,
INTERNET-SERVICES SPHERE WILL BE LIBERALIZED

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 20. ARMINFO. ‘ We have already solved part of the
problem with ArmenTel. It concerns the sphere of mobile
communication,’ Armenian President Robert Kocharyan said at a meeting
with the winners of a contest for IT-specialists, Tuesday.

The president noted the fall in the prices of mobile communication
services caused by the competition in the sphere. As regards
Internet, Robert Kocharyan said that years-long problematic talks
with ArmenTel resulted in some liberalization of the sphere of
international data transfer. The president said that when monopolist
ArmenTel directed the profits from the cellular communication
services to development of the fixed telephone network on the system
of cross financing. ‘Almost whole Yerevan is equipped wit digital
ATXs and the quality of the fixed communication in Armenia is the
best in the post- Soviet area. In this connection, Armenia has a big
progress in development of fixed communication, but it slackens as to
the level of mobile communication,’ Robert Kocharyan said. The
president expressed confidence that the whole country will be
provided with mobile communication as the second operator started its
activity “rather aggressively.”

The president said the next step with be an attempt to liberalize the
sphere of Internet services. In particular, the country will try to
lift the restrictions on Internet services, which is the prerogative
of ArmenTel at present.

To note, after the two-year conflict of the Government and ArmenTel,
a second operator entered the mobile communication market of Armenia
on July 1 2005 – K- Telecom. In the middle of September, K-Telecom’s
subscribers numbered 217,000, those of ArmenTel numbered 250,000.