ARMENIAN COMMISSION FOR REGULATING PUBLIC SERVICES SECURED ARMENTEL CJSC’S EXCLUSIVE RIGHT TO VOICE DATA COMMUNICATION SERVICES

Yerevan, January 9. ArmInfo. The Armenian Commission for Regulating
Public Services secured the ArmenTel CJSC’s exclusive right to voice
data communication services by IP and TDM technologies, the Commission
told ArmInfo. Tuesday.

This proceeds from the decision on classification of voice services
taken on January 8. The voice services had not been classified before,
therefore the ArmenTel company couldn’t legally protect its exclusive
rights, secured by the new edition of the licence No 60.

The Commission defined what exactly the voice service is. The company’s
monopoly doesn’t concern the voice messages sent from the personal
computer situated on the territory of Armenia and the messages for
private use.

To note, in September 2007, 137 enterprises and individuals who
rendered voice data communication were disconnected from the network
by the ArmenTel company. In October 2006, the Commission permitted
ArmenTel to temporarily renew these services to enterprises and
individuals until the results of the investigation of the situation
are received. The Commission instituted administrative proceedings,
and, as a result, took this decision.

Earlier, answering an ArmInfo correspondent’s question, Oleg Bliznyuk,
the director general of the ArmenTel CJSC, couldn’t say precisely
how many companies and individuals render IP and TDM services and
what capacity this market has. According to experts’ data, there are
over 300 items engaged in these services. ArmenTel finds difficulty to
evaluate the damage inflicted on the company as a result of violation
of its monopoly licensing rights.