Internet price is highest in Armenian regions, while access is lowest

PanARMENIAN.Net - According to the report, introduced during the regular informal meeting of Armenia's IT industry representatives at the town of Dilijan Internet is used by 5.8 per cent of the population in Armenia, 12.7 per cent in Azerbaijan, 8.9 per cent in Georgia and 34.9 per cent in Iran, 36.9 per cent in Turkey.



The monthly fee for unlimited ADSL at 1 Mb/s is $ 80 in Armenia, $ 10 in - Georgia, $40 in Azerbaijan, $ 28 - in Turkey.



Authors of the report suggested the Public Services Regulatory Commission jointly with the State Commission for Protection of Economic Competition to settle tariffs.



As it is mentioned in the report, ISPs should be able to rent ArmenTel's resources based on price cost, and to ensure own access to international routes.

In addition, authors of the report pointed to the need to introduce in Armenia the MNP function: mobile number portability. The service enables customers to change a telephony service provider without changing a phone number. It was suggested to start a discussion on the terms of MNP introduction.



The report was prepared by the Armenian office of the Academy of Education Development (Academy for Educational Development - AED), U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Public Services Regulatory Commission of Armenia.