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ARMENIA TO HAVE THIRD WIRELESS OPERATOR
By Ruben Meloyan
Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
Dec 14 2007
The government has given the green light to the creation of Armenia's
third mobile phone network and will call an international tender for
that purpose next year, a senior official said on Friday.
Robert Nazarian, chairman of the Public Services Regulatory Commission
(PSRC), told reporters that the bidding for the wireless license will
start on May 1 and last for 90 days. He said it will be administered
by a special commission to be formed by the government.
With Nazarian giving no further details, it is not clear when the
government decided to further liberalize the Armenian market for
wireless services. Prime Minister Serzh Sarkisian's cabinet has
announced no such decision yet.
Nazarian's statement followed a newspaper report earlier this month
which said Armenia will soon have a third mobile operator. The
pro-opposition "Zhamanak Yerevan" claimed that it will be owned by
President Robert Kocharian's son Sedrak.
Mobile telephony remained underdeveloped in Armenia until the
government's decision in late 2004 to abolish a legal monopoly on the
service enjoyed by the ArmenTel national telecommunications company.
A Lebanese-owned company was hastily granted, without a tender,
the license to build the second wireless network. The launch of the
VivaCell network in summer 2005 led to an explosion in cellphone use
in the country.
VivaCell currently boasts over one million subscribers, or twice the
number of Armenians using the ArmenTel network. The two companies
are now owned by Russia's two largest mobile phone operators.
By Ruben Meloyan
Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
Dec 14 2007
The government has given the green light to the creation of Armenia's
third mobile phone network and will call an international tender for
that purpose next year, a senior official said on Friday.
Robert Nazarian, chairman of the Public Services Regulatory Commission
(PSRC), told reporters that the bidding for the wireless license will
start on May 1 and last for 90 days. He said it will be administered
by a special commission to be formed by the government.
With Nazarian giving no further details, it is not clear when the
government decided to further liberalize the Armenian market for
wireless services. Prime Minister Serzh Sarkisian's cabinet has
announced no such decision yet.
Nazarian's statement followed a newspaper report earlier this month
which said Armenia will soon have a third mobile operator. The
pro-opposition "Zhamanak Yerevan" claimed that it will be owned by
President Robert Kocharian's son Sedrak.
Mobile telephony remained underdeveloped in Armenia until the
government's decision in late 2004 to abolish a legal monopoly on the
service enjoyed by the ArmenTel national telecommunications company.
A Lebanese-owned company was hastily granted, without a tender,
the license to build the second wireless network. The launch of the
VivaCell network in summer 2005 led to an explosion in cellphone use
in the country.
VivaCell currently boasts over one million subscribers, or twice the
number of Armenians using the ArmenTel network. The two companies
are now owned by Russia's two largest mobile phone operators.