ИА Арка. SOME 95 PERCENT OF ARMENIANS NOT PROGRESS IN MOBILE COMMUNICATION AND INTERNET SECTOR
ИА Арка. SOME 95 PERCENT OF ARMENIANS NOT PROGRESS IN MOBILE COMMUNICATION AND INTERNET SECTOR
YEREVAN, January 31. / ARKA /. An Armenian government- commissioned survey has found that 95.3% of respondents were pleased with mobile communications services noting apparent progress in this sector over the last five years, prime minister Tigran Sargsyan said at a Cabinet meeting on Thursday. He said the study found also that 82.4% of respondents noted progress in compulsory insurance of motor vehicles.
According to the prime minister, some 65.1 percent of respondents noted progress also in the work of State Committee of Real Estate Cadastre.
Tigran Sargsyan said more detailed data on the results of the survey will be published on the government website.
According to economy ministry numbers, some 1.8 million Armenians were active users of Internet at the beginning of 2012. Some 56 percent of the population had access to mobile, broadband and wireless Internet. Some 380,000 of them had access to broadband Internet, of whom 320,000 were individuals. Another 1.4 million were mobile internet users
Armenia ahs three telecom operators ArmenTel" (trading as Beeline), (K-Telecom, trading as VivaCell-MTS) and Orange Armenia, a subsidiary of France Telecom). M.M. -0-
ORANGE ARMENIA AND MEGAFON EXPAND COOPERATION
YEREVAN, January 31. / ARKA /. Orange Armenia telecom and Russian MegaFon announced today the continuation and expansion of their roaming partnership. Since April 2012, Orange Armenia customers, when using the roaming service in MegaFon network in Russia, make and receive calls to and from Orange Armenia and MegaFon customers at only 30 AMD/minute rate. From February 1st Orange Armenia customers will also benefit from a 30 AMD tariff per MB for GPRS data while roaming in MegaFon network in Russia, Orange Armenia said in a press release.
Francis Gelibter, Orange Armenia CEO, said: ‘Russia is one of the most popular travel destinations of our customers and during previous year we noticed that a lot of our customers found this offer attractive. Thanks to it roaming is no more luxury and becomes just a service that makes traveling easier. We are happy that our customers can roam in Russia comfortably, using MegaFon network’.
While roaming on MegaFon network Orange Armenia customers have other advantages as well. The price for all other incoming calls and for outgoing calls to other Russian operators is 60 AMD per minute, while calls to other operators in Armenia are charged at 120 AMD/min. M.M. -0-
NOKIA TO INVEST $250 MILLION IN START-UPS
YEREVAN, January 30. / ARKA /. Finnish mobile phone maker Nokia said on Tuesday that it would invest $250 million in a new venture fund for mobile technology start-ups. It would be the third fund for Nokia Growth Partners, Nokia's global venture firm which invests in mobile hardware and component companies as well as digital advertising start-ups. Nokia Growth Partners had $600 million under management, according to digit.ru.
Nokia’s position in the mobile phone market has been worsening over the last few years under increasing pressure from competitors - first of all, Apple with its iPhone and Samsung producing popular Android-based smartphones.
Nokia closed the fourth quarter of 2012 with reduction of revenue, while its net losses compared to 2011 increased by 2.6 times up to 3.1 billion euros.
According to the company, the Nokia Growth Partners, which invested in well-known startups as Inside Secure, Swype, Summit Microelectronics, Netmagic and others, shows good financial results. M.M. -0-
YOUTUBE TO LAUNCH PAID SUBSCRIPTION
YEREVAN, January 30. / ARKA /. YouTube is said to launch a paid subscription model for a selection of channels on its video-sharing network, according to media reports.
WSJ quoted sources “familiar with the plans” as saying that YouTube has already contacted a small number of content producers, and asked them to file applications for a new channel that viewers would need to pay a monthly subscription for.
When the new channels launch, sources cited by AdAge say they will charge users between $1 and $5 per month. It’s also rumored that in addition to episodic shows or content, YouTube is looking at charging for content libraries, self-help and financial advice shows, and live events using a pay-per-view model.
YouTube is already making substantial income by showing advertisements and offering movies to rent at 2 - 15 USD . According to an RBC Capital Market analyst Mark Mahoney, in 2011 the site earned $2.5 billion, while in 2012 the profit grew to $4 billion. This year YouTube revenue is expected to exceed $5 billion, vesti.ru. reports. M.M. -0-
SEVERAL REGIONS IN KARABGH GET FULL INTERNET ACCESS
YEREVAN, January 30. / ARKA /. Karabakh Telecom said today that that beginning from today the town of Karvachar in Shahumyan region of Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR) and the village of Shosh in Askeran region will have full internet service. The company also announced that customers in Karvachar, as well as Haterk and Drmbon villages in Shahumyan region can be fully serviced in its newly renovated and fully operational service centers.
Karabakh Telecom has been in operation since February 2002. During these past 11 years, the company has built new GSM stations in NKR, providing mobile telephone coverage to about 95% of its territory.
Today, the company provides GSM, PSTN and WLL services, ADSL and FO internet
services. Today, the Capital City of Stepanakert, and major centers such as Shushi, Martuni, Martakert, Askeran , Hadrut and villages Karin tak, Togh, Chartar, Tyaq, Vardashat, Taghut, Aygestan, Karmrakuch, Taghaser, and other villages have full internet access.
The company has a number of highly ambitious projects in various stages of development. These projects will continue to be introduced to the public in 2013 and beyond, which will improve the quality of service while providing additional value added services to its subscribers, it said in a press release. M.M.-0-
MTS TO PROVIDE TV SERVICES TO THIRD-PARTY OPERATORS
YEREVAN, January 30. / ARKA /. Russian telecom service provider MTS plans to enter the business-to-business market for TV services and develop packages it can provide to other network operators. The operator is also launching its broadband and digital TV service in 10 new cities in the Russian Far East, Siberia and the Urals region.
Dmitry Bagdasaryan, director of fixed-line business at MTS, said that the company’s expertise in TV would allow it to enter the business-to-business market and deliver services to third-party providers. The company has already developed TV packages for network operators in the Russian regions and other CIS countries including Armenia, Belarus and Ukraine.
Speaking at the CSTB 2013 event in Moscow, Bagdasaryan said MTS would target small and medium-sized operators. One likely candidate for a partnership is Belarusian state telco Beltelecom, which provides the Zala TV IPTV service.
MTS holds 80 percent in Armenia’s VivaCell-MTS telecom. The other 20 percent is owned by Lebanse Fattouch Group. M.M. -0-