BRUNO DUTHOIT: ANY PROBLEM CAN BE RESOLVED IN ARMENIA
news.am
Dec 28 2009
Armenia
NEWS.am: Mr. Duthoit, Orange Armenia launched activities in Armenia
when many other companies phased down their businesses and withdrew
their capital. Did the crisis interfere with the company’s plans?
Bruno Duthoit: Not at all. The crisis has not in any way affected our
programs. Moreover, we invested even more than we had planned when we
participated in the licensing contest announced by the RA Government.
All the expenses, including the license fee, will have totaled
â~B¬140m.
NEWS.am: Your company has been working in the Armenian mobile
communication and Internet market for over a month. Have you made
any progress? Have your expectations come true? Has Orange Armenia
been able to gain a firm foothold in the market?
Bruno Duthoit: It is somewhat difficult to summarize anything now,
as we have been working for only a month and a half. As regards
mobile communication, our expectations are coming true. As we hoped,
our offers were welcomed in Armenia. In the Internet communication
field, we were pleasantly surprised to see that the demand exceeded
our expectations. We have a total of 120 customers, with 7,500 of
them being Internet users.
NEWS.am: Some customers are dissatisfied with the speed, which is lower
than the previously announced 7.2Mb/s. What are you doing to ensure
quality? What does next year hold for the Armenian Internet users?
Bruno Duthoit: First of all, I would like to note that our company
has never promised 7.2Mb/s. We were speaking of a speed up to 7.2Mb,
and the modem we offered was designed to ensure this speed. I have
already said that we encountered some problems with Internet speed. I
can say we have fallen victim to our own success, as our fortnightly
sales reached the level we had planned for the end of the year. After
that we increased the network potential and the speed, which took
two or three weeks, as it was technically impossible to do that in a
shorter period. It is almost three weeks since we tripled the capacity,
while the capacity of the international channel was doubled. But,
in some places, particularly in the Yerevan center, we still have
problems with a stable speed and are working to resolve them. Providing
high-speed and high-quality Internet communication is our priority.
NEWS.am: Your company is known to be going to import and sell iPhones.
What are the sales terms? Can your customers receive them on late
payment terms?
Bruno Duthoit: I cannot yet tell you when we start selling iPhones.
The sale day is to be fixed in cooperation with the Apple Company. As
to credit sale, I should note that iPhones will be sold at a reasonable
price, but we do not plan any credit sale.
NEWS.am: You are managing a company which recently launched its
activities in Armenia. What is your opinion of the local investment
environment? Have you already seen the strong and weak points of the
market? Your comments, please…
Bruno Duthoit: It is a difficult question to answer. I will try to
differentiate three kinds of peculiarities I have noticed. First, any
problems can be resolved in Armenia. I can state with confidence that
it is not possible in all countries. The second advantage is that many
highly skilled specialists devoted to their profession are working
in Armenia. Thirdly, people promptly respond to offers in Armenia,
which is typical of the country. On the other hand, this makes us
work hard and seek leadership so as not to lose our customers.
In conclusion, on behalf of the company staff and partners, as well as
myself, I would like congratulate all the Orange Armenia customers
and all the Armenian citizens on the New Year and Christmas and
wish them success. We hope we will be able to render higher-quality
communication services to them in the coming months and years.