On July 23-24, VivaCell-MTS, a subsidiary of Mobile TeleSystems OJSC, organized two-day training on the basics of mobile communication and telecommunication economics and finance.

This theory-based telecommunication training was customized to journalists covering the area of telecommunications, based on the continuous needs assessment. The presentation was delivered by the Company’s technical and financial specialists.

The course provided an introduction to the fundamental technologies of the telecommunications marketplace by providing crucial insights into the fast-changing and dynamic world of wireless networks. The journalists passed a special tour of the telecommunications technologies currently in use, and under development including the GSM, GPRS/EDGE, WCDMA/UMTS, HSPA, LTE.

On the second day the training focused on the economics and finance of telecommunications. The presentation was around major concepts such as ARPU (Average Revenue per User), MOU (Minutes of Use), APPM (Average Price per Minute), OIBDA (Operating Income before Depreciation and Amortization, etc. The journalists were presented with keys to understanding customer economics in the telecommunications market in Armenia. Of particular interest to the media was the seasonality impact on MOU and ARPU trends.

“Mobile operators work in a fast-changing and highly technological market subject to intense media scrutiny. Therefore, as a responsible company, we want to support the media with keeping up with telecommunications technologies’ fast pace of development. This telecommunications training program for the media seeks to promote the development of the telecom journalism, an emerging narrow specialty that needs to build its knowledge base,” stated VivaCell-MTS General manager Ralph Yirikian.