Yerevan /Mediamax/. General Director of “ArmenTel” Igor Klimko made a statement today, in which he expressed concern in connection with the decision of the State Committee for Protection of Economic Competition of Armenia (SCPEC) on declaring “ArmenTel” as being one of the dominating operators in the market of international data transfer transit.
Mediamax reports Igor Klimko stating that the main reason for “ArmenTel” Company’s concern is that the decision of SCPEC follows the decision of Public Services Regulatory Committee (PSRC) of Armenia concerning the same issue, differing from the later only by the use of different criteria and methods.
Igor Klimko noted that the cost of 1 Gbit of wholesale internet for providers makes $662-$934 at present, while in their statements, SCPEC based on unchecked data and mentioned a sum 1.5 times higher.
Commenting on the statement of the Committee on 50% profitability of “ArmenTel” as a result of selling internet to Armenian providers, Spokeswoman of “ArmenTel” Anush Begloyan stated, that the profitability makes about 20%, and SCPEC in its statements does not take into account the expenses of the company in the prime cost of internet transit.
General Director of “ArmenTel” expressed hope that the state regulatory bodies will come to a single and logical scheme of interaction both between each other and with the participants of the market.
“Making such decisions with different criteria aggravates the general investment climate and creates a dangerous precedent for future and current foreign investors”, Igor Klimko stated, noting that the total volume of capital investments of “ArmenTel” in 2007-2009 made over $180mln.
