DECISION ON NEW TARIFFS OF ARMENTEL TO BE MADE BY MID OCTOBER

Noyan Tapan
Sept 05 2006

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 5, NOYAN TAPAN. The company ArmenTel submitted a
bid to the RA Public Services Regulatory Commission, proposing that
the tariffs of fixed-line phone and Internet services be increased
next year. It is proposed that the current monthly tariff of 1,100
drams for fixed-line phone services be increased to 3,000 drams (about
7.5 USD), while the tariff for business subscribers be lowered from
4,800 to 4,200 drams.

The company proposes reducing the time, during which the subscriber
may speak on the phone free of charge, from the current 360 minutes
to 280 minutes.

It is proposed that the minumum per-minute tariff be increased from
5 to 6 drams. This tariff will be used from 281st minute to 1,000th
minute. To recap, at present the minimum per-minute tariff of 5 drams
is used from 360th minute to 1,600th minute. ArmenTel proposes that
the maximum per-minute tariff of 9 drams be left unchanged.

According to ArmenTel’s bid, the per-minute charge for using the
Internet through a phone should be raised from the current tariff of
1 dram to 2.4 drams.

According to the bid, it is proposed that the previous payment for
provision of a phone number (24,000 drams) be restored instead of the
current payment of 12,000 drams, and for natural persons it should be
fixed at 28,000 drams instead of the current payment of 14,400 drams.

At the same time, the company proposes lowering the tariffs of
intercity and international calls, as well as calls to mobile
phones. For example, it is proposed that during busy hours (7 am to
11 pm), the tariff of intercity calls be lowered from the current 20
drams to 16.8 drams, and the per-minute tariff for making calls from
a fixed-line phone to a mobile phone – from 70 to 54 drams. During not
busy hours (11 pm to 7 am) it is proposed using a tariff of 13.2 drams
for intercity calls instead of the current 14 drams, and a tariff of
42 drams for calls to a mobile phone instead of the current tariff
of 49 drams.

To recap, the RA Public Services Regulatory Commission must make a
decision about ArmenTel’s bid within 45 days.