ITU: only 7% of Armenia’s population uses Internet

PanARMENIAN.Net - Internet World Stats published data of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) on Internet usage as of June 2010, which states that only 7% of Armenia’s population (208,200 people) uses Internet.

According to the ITU, the number of Internet users in Armenia totaled 191,000 people (6% of population) in 2009. Meanwhile, some experts believe that this data is considerably understated.

“I do not understand the calculation method of the ITU, but they do not have another one. Possibly, it considered only subscribers of fixed Internet connection. However, data is understated even in this case. According to data of the RA Ministry of Economy, 20% of Armenia’s population uses Internet,” Chairman of Internet Society NGO Igor Mkrtumyan told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter.

According to him, Armenia needs to conducts its own research on the number of Internet users. “The understated information on Internet users in Armenia has a negative impact on IT development in Armenia, as it affects investors’ decision,” noted Mkrtumyan.

Meanwhile, Chairman of the Union of Information Technology Enterprises Karen Vardanyan was in difficulty to define whether the ITU data reflects the reality. “There is not any common established method for calculation,” he said.

Besides, Vardanyan voiced concern over the fact that Armenians mostly use Internet for communication and entertainment, while currently Internet provides with great opportunities for obtaining best education and business conduct.

According to the ITU data, the number of Internet users in Georgia makes 1.3mln people (28.3% of population), in Azerbaijan – 3.68mln people (44.4% of population).