IN NEAR FUTURE ARMENIA TO LINK TO INTERNATIONAL INTERNET NETWORK BY COMMUNICATION LINES OF THREE COMPANIES AT ONCE
Noyan Tapan
Apr 26 2007
YEREVAN, APRIL 26, NOYAN TAPAN. ADC (Armenian Datecom Company)
operating in Armenia with Norwegian investments started providing
Internet access services in Yerevan through a network of optical fiber
communication lines. Armen Grigorian, Secretary of the IT Development
Support Council under the RA president, told NT correspondent about it.
In his words, the ADC’s network of communication lines covers all
Yerevan.
The company envisages extending its network to Armenian marzes and
linking it to the international network of optical fiber communication
lines. Thus, ADC will become the third company providing the
international Internet access service in Armenia.
According to A. Grigorian, the second company providing such services –
Fibernet will conduct wholesale of the Internet access service at much
low prices. In his opinion, this circumstance will cause ArmenTel to
make serious investments for development of the network of optical
fiber communication lines, because, for example, the equipment used in
the hubs of this network does not meet international requirements. The
installation of new equipment will allow to increase the speed of
Internet connection and provide a complete range of Internet services.
A. Grigorian informed NT correspondent that ADC ensures Internet
access in Armenia through a satellite communication link but later
this will be done through the intenational access line of Fiberner –
until ADC connects its network to the international optical fiber
highway. A. Grigorian expressed an opinion that it is likely that
ArmenTel, which encounters the communication lines’ overload problem,
will also buy the Internet access service from Fibernet.
A. Grigorian is convinced that competition among two or three companies
engaged in wholesale of Internet access services will result in a
sharp decline in Internet and, in general, telecommunication prices,
which has already been registered in the mobile phone communication
sector in the last two year.
According to him, 6-7 big companies currently make investments in
Armenia’s Internet services sector. He said that these investments will
be efficient as the market of Internet services has much potential
for development: at present the Internet is accessible to 3-5% of
Armenian households, while in developed countries this index makes 85%.
In the opinion of A. Grigorian, within a year the Armenian market of
Internet services will develop in two ways – provision of cable and
wireless Internet services.