Armenian mobile phone penetration rate not to grow further

YEREVAN, November 9, /ARKA/. Sergey Kapitonov, Sales Director of ArmenTel communications company (acting under Beeline trademark) said last Friday they do not expect the mobile phone penetration rate in Armenia to grow further.

Speaking to ARKA he said due to its saturation the local market of mobile phone services is set to experience a protracted period of stagnation.

A subsidiary of France Telecom, Orange-Armenia, the third mobile phone network in Armenia, launched its commercial operations on November 5. Orange won last October an international tender for the right to launch and operate the third Armenian wireless network by paying 50 million euros ($72 million) for the license, outbidding two other European telecom firms short-listed in the government-administered contest. The two other mobile phone networks are owned by the subsidiaries of Russia’s two largest wireless operators, MTS and Beeline.

According to Sergey Kapitonov, since the market is 100 percent saturated, the fighting between the three companies will be for winning over each others’ customers. Sergey Kapitonov said ArmenTel has already cut the connection price for its new customers.-0-