CORNET-AM TO ROLL OUT BROADBAND WIRELESS NETWORK
by Julian Watson

World Markets Research Center
Global Insight
June 16, 2008

Cornet-AM, Russia-based Comstar’s Armenian subsidiary, is to roll
out a 3660-3700 MHz WiMAX network in Yerevan plus 18 other towns,
reports ARKA News Agency. The WiMAX licence it was granted is valid
until March 2017. The operator has announced that the first group of
covered cities will have access this July.

Significance: Comstar’s proactive move to enter the Armenian broadband
market (see Armenia – Russia: 1 February 2008: ) is going according
to plan. Armenia, where the physical infrastructure is poor and
the internet penetration rate still below 10 users per 100 people,
serves as a good example of a market with high potential for wireless
broadband–the WiMAX technology allows Comstar to reach initially
75% of the population, and the company has plans to expand that
coverage further. Also, broadband markets in other countries in the
Commonwealth of Independent States remain largely untapped, and offer
similar business opportunities for an early mover such as Comstar.