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FM AMEMBASSY YEREVAN
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INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTON DC
RUEAFCC/FCC WASHDC

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 05 YEREVAN 000052 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/14/2020 
TAGS: ECON EFIN EINT EAID AM
SUBJECT: COMPETITION LIFTING TELECOMMUNICATIONS SECTOR, BUT 
DARK CLOUDS PERSIST 
 
REF: YEREVAN 12 
 
Classified By: A/DCM JOHN MAHER. REASONS 1.4 (B/D) 
 
SUMMARY 
 ------- 
 
1.(C) Armenia's long-moribund Information, Communications and 
Technology (ICT) sector has gradually become more competitive 
in recent years.  Anti-monopoly efforts inspired by 
frustration with an antiquated system led to the entry of new 
mobile telephony and internet bandwidth providers, and 
consequently lower prices and improved services.  Mobile 
telephony is currently at the head of this trend, though new 
fiber-optic networks offer hope for improved service in 
fixed-line telephony and internet.  This process should be 
helped by a GOAM-driven broadband initiative to connect the 
entire country and narrow a growing "digital divide" between 
Yerevan and Armenia's underdeveloped regions.  Despite these 
developments, prices remain high and service levels lag 
European standards.  As with many sectors in Armenia, Russian 
firms play a major role (and may be using Armenian networks 
as a conduit to Iran). Interests of GOAM insiders could also 
inhibit efforts to bring the sector up to international 
standards.  END SUMMARY. 
 
WIRING ARMENIA FOR THE FUTURE 
----------------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) Armenia's ICT sector has long suffered from poor 
service and high prices due to the monopoly position of its 
legacy carrier, Armentel. As a consequence, Armenia has 
fallen far behind its western neighbors with respect to its 
level of electronic connectivity, a gap it is only now 
beginning to address seriously. High costs and initial 
concentration of service in Yerevan have also created a major 
"digital divide" between the younger, urban, educated 
population in Yerevan and populations in the much 
less-developed regions.  Armenia's internet penetration is 
still only about six percent--largely concentrated among the 
Russian and English-speaking upper middle class in 
Yerevan--compared to approximately 35 percent in Iran and 
Turkey, and 20 percent in Azerbaijan. 
 
¶3. (SBU) High costs and poor service have limited internet 
penetration, harmed Armenia's competitiveness and continue to 
limit business development and investment. Andrew 
Hovhanissian, Deputy General Manager of Synopsys (a U.S. firm 
and the largest IT operation in Armenia) says the company is 
consistently hampered by the high cost and limited quantity 
of internet bandwidth. Tim Slater, CEO of HSBC, noted that 
the bank at one point considered placing a regional back 
office operation in Yerevan, but cancelled such plans when 
they determined that current internet connections were too 
slow and unreliable. 
 
¶4. (U) The GOAM's efforts to close the digital divide and 
improve competition began several years ago with regulatory 
changes that weakened Armentel's dominance and welcomed new 
entrants after a decade of a government-protected monopoly. 
The GOAM is also undertaking efforts to expand data networks 
throughout the country. Mobile telephony has made the 
quickest advances to date, though internet service is poised 
for similar improvements as new entrants continue laying 
fiber-optic cable to extend coverage throughout the country. 
In addition to pursuing regulatory changes, the GOAM has 
undertaken IT and e-society development strategies, 
implemented new interconnection regulations and provided tax 
holidays to attract new participants who combined are 
investing more than $150 million into the Armenian ICT 
sector. In 2009 more than 10 startups were created in Armenia 
in the telecom sector. 
 
REGULATING THE ICT SECTOR 
------------------------- 
 
¶5. (U) Since 2006, Armenia's ICT sector has been regulated 
primarily by the Public Services Regulatory Commission 
(PSRC), while the Commission for the Protection of Economic 
Competition (Competition Commission) plays a role in 
determining and countering market dominance. Although it has 
made impressive strides in bringing new competition to the 
sector, the PSRC generally lacks the expertise and both the 
financial and political resources to regulate the ICT sector 
properly or to accept new approaches and methods in 
regulating changes in the market. The sector is also hampered 
by the sometimes overlapping jurisdictions of regulators, as 
the Ministry of Economy, Competition Commission, and Ministry 
of Transport and Communications all play a role at various 
times. 
 
YEREVAN 00000052  002 OF 005 
 
 
 
¶6. (U) On September 24, 2009, the Competition Commission 
determined that ArmenTel and FiberNet held a dominant 
position in the wholesale internet backbone market and were 
charging monopoly-level tariffs to competing ISPs (Note: GNC 
Alfa, the third internet backbone provider, was not yet in 
the market at the time of the decision. End Note). The 
Commission determined that the firms were paying $300-400 USD 
per megabyte (MB) of bandwidth and selling it for $900-1,200. 
Competing ISPs, in their application to the Commission to 
investigate the dominance of ArmenTel and FiberNet, claimed 
that if their pricing policies continued this way, 
GOAM-planned initiatives in the technology sector would fail 
and companies would not be able to produce or export a 
competitive product.  After the decision by the Competition 
Commission and new investments by GNC Alfa (see below), 
wholesale bandwidth rates have decreased by nearly a factor 
of ten, but remain high compared to the U.S. and other 
countries. 
 
CATCHING UP AFTER A "LOST DECADE" 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶7. The emergence of a competitive and innovative ICT sector 
followed nearly a decade during which the country suffered 
from the GOAM's ill-fated 1998 sale of a 90% stake in 
Armentel, the legacy monopoly carrier, to the Greek firm OTE. 
That sale included a 15-year monopoly on fixed-line, mobile 
and internet service. However, the price paid by OTE, 
combined with the cost of upgrading an antiquated, Soviet-era 
network, soon soured the company on the deal, and Armenian 
consumers balked at the high tariffs and poor quality of 
service. 
 
¶8. In 2003 the GOAM applied to the International Court of 
Arbitration to void Armentel/OTE's monopoly license, 
contending that OTE had not fulfilled its commitments to 
invest in upgrades to the telecoms infrastructure.  In 
November 2004 the GOAM and OTE signed a revised agreement 
under which OTE surrendered its monopoly license. By many 
accounts, OTE was quite willing to give up its monopoly and 
even sought to exit Armenia entirely, once it saw that its 
investment was unlikely to be profitable. In November 2006 
OTE sold its 90% stake in ArmenTel to the Russian telecom 
operator Vimpelcom. In 2007 Vimpelcom bought the remaining 
10% from the GOAM, with the stipulation that fixed-line 
telephony and provision of internet backbone (the fiber optic 
cable carrying both voice and data) would be opened to 
competition. 
 
MOBILE TELEPHONY IN THE LEAD 
---------------------------- 
 
¶9. The PSRC's greatest success to date has occurred in mobile 
telephony, now the most competitive segment of the ICT 
sector. After the GOAM broke Armentel's monopoly in this 
market, Vivacell, with more advanced technology and superior 
customer service, entered the market in 2006 and quickly took 
a dominant position while significantly expanding the market. 
 According the Vivacell CEO Ralph Yerikian, Vivacell has an 
80 percent market share (Note: This was prior to the entry of 
Orange Telecom in November; we do not yet have current 
information about how this has affected market shares. End 
Note). In 2008 Vivacell was Armenia's largest corporate 
taxpayer. Orange Telecom has invested approximately USD 200 
million (including the license fee) in the sector and began 
operations in November 2009 (reftel). Both companies have 
also become major Internet Service Providers (ISPs), using 
GSM technology. 
 
¶10. (C) Armenia is now seeing more widespread introduction of 
3G technology around the country.  Armentel announced on 
January 14 that it now provides 3G service to five major 
cities: Yerevan, Gyumri, Vanadzor, Etchmiadzin and Abovyan. 
Pegor Papazian, Director of the Competitiveness Foundation of 
Armenia, told EconOff that the entire country should have 
access to 3G service by the end of 2011.  Orange already 
provides 3G service throughout most of the country and 
Vivacell has announced plans to create a testing zone for 
introduction of Long-Term Evolution (LTE) technologies in 
Yerevan. A spokesman for MTS, the Russian owner of Vivacell, 
told press that Vivacell had invested about $23 million in 
its network in the first three quarters of 2009, which has 
allowed the company to cover the entire country with its 3G 
network. This should allow Vivacell to be the first operator 
in Armenia to provide mobile TV to its subscribers. Vivacell 
is also going to study the possibility of introducing 4G LTE 
service in Armenia during 2010. 
 
INTERNET: NATURAL MONOPOLY ERODING 
 
YEREVAN 00000052  003 OF 005 
 
 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶11. (SBU) Provision of wholesale internet backbone has been 
open to competition since November 2007, and Armentel has 
since been joined by two other firms:  FiberNet (since 2006) 
and GNC Alfa. Both are constructing new fiber-optic networks 
that should increase Armenia's internet capacity and provide 
competition to Armentel in the internet wholesale market. 
While Armentel earlier this year announced plans to double 
its fiber optic network -- as well as to upgrade older 
segments -- by the end of 2009, industry contacts indicate it 
has failed to meet this goal.  Most new ISPs are now buying 
bandwidth from GNC Alfa and FiberNet. 
 
¶12. (SBU) The entry of these new internet backbone providers 
has seen wholesale bandwidth prices fall significantly, 
though there remains room for further reductions.  As a 
monopoly provider, Armentel charged, according to an 
executive of one ISP, about $4,000 per month for 1 Mbs 
symmetric guaranteed bandwidth; Fibernet offered service for 
$1,200 per month when it entered the market in 2006, which 
prompted Armentel to reduce its rate to $1,600. After GNC 
Alfa entered in October 2009, the market price fell to around 
$600-$700/month. Industry contacts estimate that the market 
price will fall to $400/month in early 2010. 
 
¶13. (U) Despite these price reductions, internet bandwidth 
remains considerably more expensive than in Georgia (about 
$200/month per Mbps) or in Ukraine (about $25-30/month, but 
this is unlikely to be guaranteed; the price in the EU is 
closer to $100/month). Further wholesale cost reductions may 
be constrained by high interconnection rates at internet 
gateways in Georgia and Iran. Armenian backbone providers pay 
approximately $600 per month for 1 Mbps interconnection to 
international gateways, several times higher than similar 
fees in western Europe. Consequently, backbone providers and 
ISPs strongly support being able to establish fiber-optic 
connections with Turkey in order to reduce interconnection 
costs, whether or not the two countries establish relations 
and open the border. 
 
THE MONEY BEHIND THE BANDWIDTH 
------------------------------ 
 
¶14. (C) Given the high cost of installing fiber optic cable, 
these ventures require significant financial backing, and as 
in most of the CIS, the telecom sector is significantly under 
Russian control and populated by government insiders.  GNC 
Alfa executives were evasive about their chief backers, but 
informed speculation is that its primary funding comes from 
GazProm; the network is being routed along gas pipelines from 
Georgia to Iran.  GNC is constructing a new gateway from 
Iran, as well as building new gateways linking Armenia with 
Georgia, and there is speculation that GNC is primarily a 
front for Russian efforts to establish a direct data link to 
Iran. 
 
¶15. (C) Fibernet is believed to be owned in large part by 
former Minister of Transportation and Communications Andranik 
Manukian, who was in office at the time FiberNet began 
operations.  He also owns the building where Vivacell has its 
headquarters. (Note: Fibernet's network is being routed along 
railway lines throughout Armenia. It has been in operation 
and reportedly has been providing bandwidth since 2006, a 
year before the market was formally opened to competition. 
End Note). 
 
¶16. (C) Some contacts have suggested that the GOAM sought to 
break the Armentel monopoly in order to benefit former 
President Robert Kocharian.  A knowledgeable source alleged 
Kocharian had a significant ownership interest in the company 
at the time it was allowed to enter the mobile telephony 
market (it was sold to Russia's MTS in fall 2007). (Comment: 
While not possible to verify definitively, such a hypothesis 
seems consistent with the general tendency in Armenia for 
companies to give a piece of the action to a GOAM insider in 
order to avoid trouble.  Armentel at this time was also owned 
by Greece's OTE, and therefore had no "inside track" with the 
GOAM.  End Comment). 
 
SERVICE REMAINS SPOTTY 
---------------------- 
 
¶17. (SBU) Despite entry of new providers, internet service 
still has considerable room for improvement.  The major 
internet providers include Armentel (dba Beeline), connecting 
to the home via DSL; Vivacell and Orange (both using GSM), 
Arminco (various).  None of them yet manage to provide 1 Mbps 
(a common standard for home broadband internet) reliably, 
though some, including Orange, advertise service up to 5.4 
 
YEREVAN 00000052  004 OF 005 
 
 
Mbps.  Service is generally sufficient for static use 
(e-mail, web-browsing), and usually for audio streaming, but 
is not reliable for video streaming.  We are already hearing 
reports that customers who flocked to new ISPs like Icon and 
Orange in search of faster and more reliable internet service 
have begun deserting those providers, many gravitating to 
Vivacell. According to local contacts, both Orange (in 
operation for two months) and Icon are in poor financial 
condition and have been laying off staff. 
 
AND PRICES REMAIN HIGH 
---------------------- 
 
¶18. Reductions in bandwidth costs have also led to reductions 
in retail internet prices, though prices remain higher than 
in the U.S. or EU.  For example, 1 Mbps home internet service 
in Armenia using ADSL or WiMax has a monthly fee of about 
$88, compared to about $30 in the U.S. The usability and 
quality of the service in Armenia would be sub-par when 
compared to the U.S. An entry level (128 kbps) broadband 
service in Armenia costs about $20 per month. In contrast to 
the broadband service providers, internet service from mobile 
phone companies (Vivacell, Orange) is metered, with 
additional charges imposed beyond a certain amount of data 
transfer (e.g. for those who engage in significant video 
streaming or music/film downloading). At the high end, the 15 
Gigabyte package runs about $52 per month, with the low end 3 
Gigabyte package priced at $24.  U-COM, provides 1 Mbps 
service for AMD 12,000 (about $32) per month as part of a 
"triple play" package (below), though it requires fiber to 
the home (FTTH), which is not widely available outside 
downtown Yerevan. 
 
CONNECTING THE "LAST MILE" 
-------------------------- 
 
¶19. (U) With increased competition and capacity in the 
internet backbone, the next step will be to address the 
connection from ISP hub to the home -- the so-called "last 
mile." At present Vivacell and Orange are best positioned, as 
they can leverage their GSM mobile phone technology to create 
a fast, wireless connection.  Icon's WiMax is likely to be 
less successful; it is inherently slower than GSM and its key 
advantage -- wider geographic coverage in lightly populated 
areas -- is of limited value in urban areas with plentiful 
cell phone coverage.  However, neither GSM nor WiMax can 
provide the level of service of fiber to the home (FTTH).  At 
present only U-Com provides this connection, and only in 
Yerevan, with no plans to expand to other cities. (Note: One 
obstacle U-Com and other new entrants face is the lack of an 
interconnection facility with Armentel's network at any 
location outside Yerevan. We will report more on this septel. 
End Note). 
 
THE BROADBAND ARMENIA PROJECT 
----------------------------- 
 
¶20. (SBU) GNC'S Faramazian told Econoff that the future of 
ICT in Armenia is in "triple play," one fiber-optic line to 
the home that provides cable television, internet and 
internet telephony (VoIP). A GOAM initiative envisions 
creating a nationwide backbone fiber-optic network that would 
offer non-discriminatory access to all ISPs and mobile 
telephony providers. Known as the Broadband Armenia project, 
the GOAM, with some funding from the World Bank, foresees 
providing "triple play" capacity and interconnection to all 
other fiber optic networks. The goal is to provide 100 Mbps. 
of service to every village in Armenia. The GOAM would 
include as part of this initiative a "PC for All" program, as 
computer penetration in the villages is also quite low. 
 
¶21. (U) While initially envisioned as a full-scale 
fiber-optic network, planned upgrades by Armentel and the 
entry of GNC Alfa and FiberNet make it more likely that the 
GOAM would seek instead to interconnect these networks and 
fill in the gaps and provide some level of redundancy. This 
would be the preferred approach, according to the 
Competitiveness Foundation's Papazian. The initial draft 
study is expected in mid-February. 
 
WHITHER BLACKBERRY? 
------------------- 
 
¶22. (U) Another area that still requires development is 
support for wireless devices (e.g. Blackberries).  Until 
recently, such devices did not work at all in Armenia, except 
at the airport where it was close enough to the border to get 
coverage from a Turkish provider. There is still no public, 
Armenia-specific service for these devices at present. 
However, those with international-roaming data SIM cards from 
 
YEREVAN 00000052  005 OF 005 
 
 
other countries will now work here. (Note: Because of this 
capability post is now in the process of issuing Blackberries 
to FSOs. End Note). 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
¶23. (C) The inC^dQQY#QQnftransparency in 
governance, some elements of the GOAM may be less interested 
in greater transparency and might therefore still hamper 
further development of the sector.  Costs remain a serious 
problem, and will need to be addressed in part by reducing 
international interconnection charges; a link to Turkey's 
fiber-optic network would prove very useful in bringing this 
about. We can expect further improvements if the various GOAM 
agencies involved in telecommunications regulation can sort 
out their overlapping jurisdictions and direct their efforts 
toward promoting investment, competition and innovation in 
the sector. Developments also seem to be highly influenced by 
increasing Russian dominance in the sector.  We will report 
more extensively on Russia's economic interests in Armenia 
septel.  END COMMENT 
YOVANOVITCH