COMSTAR COMPLETES ARMENIAN WIMAX NETWORK BUILDOUT
Business Monitor International
Emerging Europe Telecommunications Insights
August 1, 2008
Comstar United TeleSystems (Comstar UTS) of Russia has completed
the buildout of a wireless network based on the 802.16e standard in
Armenia. The network has been built for the Armenian ISP Cornet,
a subsidiary of transit operator Callnet in which Comstar UTS has
owned a 75% stake since October 2006. Cornet has a licence to use
the 3.6-3.8GHz frequency band across the whole of Armenia.
The network consists of 24 base stations, which are connected to each
other via radio relay lines and leased telecommunications channels from
incumbent ArmenTel (a VimpelCom subsidiary). Airspan Networks of the
US was contracted in Q407 to supply and install the network. Comstar
UTS has also installed two data transmission nodes based on equipment
supplied by Cisco Systems.
The WiMAX network will be used to provide high-speed internet access,
deliver multimedia content, offer VoIP services and data transmission
and create VPNs for residential and corporate customers. As the
network is based on the 802.16e standard, Cornet will be able to
offer a broad range of fixed-mobile convergence services as well as
stand-alone mobility products. Comstar UTS reports that, earlier this
year, Cornet applied to the Public Service Regulation Committee for
the right to own 60,000 telephone numbers; the company is now working
to launch voice services using this numbering resource.
Wireless Broadband To Raise Penetration Growth Of Fixed-line Telephony
Market, 2002-07 Telecoms6_20080715 Source: ITU; BMI Research; e =
estimate
Armenia is poorly served by basic telephony and internet access
services, despite considerable efforts by ArmenTel in recent years to
modernise and upgrade its network. The International Telecommunication
Union (ITU) believes that there were less than 100,000 internet users
in Armenia at the end of 2007, with broadband subscribers numbering
less than 5,000. Basic fixed-line availability is also poor; the number
of fixed-lines grew from 542,800 at the end of 2002 (17.8% penetration)
to 594,400 at the end of 2005 (19.7% penetration), according to the
ITU. BMI estimates that this figure had risen to 609,000 by the end
of 2006 and to almost 620,000 by the end of 2007 (20.7% penetration),
based on the reported number of customers served by ArmenTel.
Callnet is one of four licensed long-distance operators in Armenia
and serves approximately 75% of the country’s banking and financial
institutions market. Consequently, the new mobile WiMAX network is
expected to meet with considerable interest from the corporate sector,
as well as the transportation and logistics sectors.