Internet down in Armenia again due to accident in Georgia – agency

Regnum, Moscow
5 Aug 06

5 August: Armenia’s population has been twice deprived of Internet
within the past two days. A Regnum correspondent reported by phone from
Yerevan yesterday [4 August] that disruption to Armenian providers’
operation on 4 and 5 August had been caused by an accident on the
fibre optic communications cable in Georgia.

ArmenTel company, the national operator with exclusive rights to
provide international telecommunications from Armenia, said that
the cable had been damaged near the town of Kutaisi on 4 August that
caused a six-hour disruption in Internet. Today the cable was damaged
on the Black Sea bed, the company’s press service said. There is no
information as to when the link will be restored.

The Armenian government considers the development of information
technologies as the main priority of the country’s economy. Meanwhile,
the country is very vulnerable because its communications are connected
via the only cable that goes from Armenia to Ukraine through Georgia
and the Black Sea bed. In the south, the cable is connected to Iran’s
communications. The current incident is the third major accident on
the cable in Georgia.