COMBA DEVELOPS WIRELESS SOLUTION FOR YEREVAN METRO
Michael Lacquiere
World Market Research Centre
Global Insight
May 18 2010
Comba Telecom Systems has completed the development of a turnkey
wireless solution for the provision of mobile telephony on the
Armenian underground in the capital city of Yerevan. Comba has
installed a dual-mode GSM and UMTS solution on the Yerevan Metro
rapid transit system, installing base stations for signal servicing,
implementing an active Distributed Antenna System (DAS) for station
platform coverage, and customising fibre-optic repeater systems for
seamless coverage and handover in and out of tunnels.
Significance:The development of mobile services on the underground
is an added boost to an already healthy Armenian mobile market.
Penetration in the sector reached 97% at the end of 2009 while
the market benefits from the presence of three GSM operators,
each of which is strongly backed by foreign owners with substantial
financial clout. With 3G having been introduced by the major players,
subscribers already have access to a range of value-added services
that transcend traditional voice offerings and the provision of
telephony on the Yerevan Metro–a service not yet developed in many
Western markets–further consolidates Armenia’s status as one of the
more mature markets of the CIS region.