September 11, 2003 - 18:57 AMT
WB AGAINST TELECOMMUNICATION MONOPOLY IN ARMENIA
The World Bank (WB) is for depriving "ArmenTel" company of the monopoly over telephone communication in Armenia, director of WB Yerevan office Roger Robinson told "Liberty" radio station. In his words, monopoly hampers development of the telecommunication market in the republic. He noted the high price and low quality of the services. He cited Georgia as an example, where owing to competition between three operators of cellular communication the prices are lower and the quality - higher. At the same time he considered replacing one monopoly with another inadmissible. According to some data at present the Armenian government holds talks to involve "Rostelecom" Russian company as a cellular communication operator. "Karabakhtelecom" and Russian "Megafon", which are indirectly owned by the Russian president's spouse Lyudmila Putina, are mentioned as cellular communication operators.