Armenian government approves agreement between telecom companies

Armenian government approves agreement between telecom companies

Prime-TASS news agency, Moscow
19 Nov 04

Yerevan, 19 November: The Armenian government has approved an amicable
agreement between the Greek company Hellenic Telecommunications
Organization (OTE) and the Armenian national telecom company ArmenTel,
the press relations department of the government said on Friday
[19 November].

The government has also decided to make amendments to ArmenTel’s
licence, which deprives the company of the exclusive right to provide
GSM, mobile satellite and mobile radio communication services, the
press service said.

However, the company will keep its monopoly on IP telephony voice
transmission services, the press service added.

In 1997, the Greek company Hellenic Telecommunications Organization
paid 142.47m US dollars to gain control of a 90-per-cent stake in
ArmenTel. It bought a 41-per-cent stake from the Armenian government
and a 49-per-cent stake from Trans-World Telecom.

According to the agreement between OTE and the Armenian government,
ArmenTel was granted the right to its monopoly for 15 years, but in
September 2003 the government initiated a procedure to amend ArmenTel’s
licence due to the allegedly low-quality services it provided.