COMPETITION LIFTING TELECOMMUNICATIONS SECTOR, BUT

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 05 YEREVAN 000052 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/14/2020 TAGS: ECON EFIN EINT EAID AM SUBJECT: COMPETITION LIFTING TELECOMMUNICATIONS SECTOR, BUT DARK CLOUDS PERSIST REF: YEREVAN 12 Classified By: A/DCM JOHN MAHER. REASONS 1.4 (B/D) SUMMARY -------------- 1.(C) Armenia's long-moribund Information, Communications and Technology (ICT) sector has gradually become more competitive in recent years. Anti-monopoly efforts inspired by frustration with an antiquated system led to the entry of new mobile telephony and internet bandwidth providers, and consequently lower prices and improved services. Mobile telephony is currently at the head of this trend, though new fiber-optic networks offer hope for improved service in fixed-line telephony and internet. This process should be helped by a GOAM-driven broadband initiative to connect the entire country and narrow a growing "digital divide" between Yerevan and Armenia's underdeveloped regions. Despite these developments, prices remain high and service levels lag European standards. As with many sectors in Armenia, Russian firms play a major role (and may be using Armenian networks as a conduit to Iran). Interests of GOAM insiders could also inhibit efforts to bring the sector up to international standards. END SUMMARY. WIRING ARMENIA FOR THE FUTURE -------------- ¶2. (SBU) Armenia's ICT sector has long suffered from poor service and high prices due to the monopoly position of its legacy carrier, Armentel. As a consequence, Armenia has fallen far behind its western neighbors with respect to its level of electronic connectivity, a gap it is only now beginning to address seriously. High costs and initial concentration of service in Yerevan have also created a major "digital divide" between the younger, urban, educated population in Yerevan and populations in the much less-developed regions. Armenia's internet penetration is still only about six percent--largely concentrated among the Russian and English-speaking upper middle class in Yerevan--compared to approximately 35 percent in Iran and Turkey, and 20 percent in Azerbaijan. ¶3. (SBU) High costs and poor service have limited internet penetration, harmed Armenia's competitiveness and continue to limit business development and investment. Andrew Hovhanissian, Deputy General Manager of Synopsys (a U.S. firm and the largest IT operation in Armenia) says the company is consistently hampered by the high cost and limited quantity of internet bandwidth. Tim Slater, CEO of HSBC, noted that the bank at one point considered placing a regional back office operation in Yerevan, but cancelled such plans when they determined that current internet connections were too slow and unreliable. ¶4. (U) The GOAM's efforts to close the digital divide and improve competition began several years ago with regulatory changes that weakened Armentel's dominance and welcomed new entrants after a decade of a government-protected monopoly. The GOAM is also undertaking efforts to expand data networks throughout the country. Mobile telephony has made the quickest advances to date, though internet service is poised for similar improvements as new entrants continue laying fiber-optic cable to extend coverage throughout the country. In addition to pursuing regulatory changes, the GOAM has undertaken IT and e-society development strategies, implemented new interconnection regulations and provided tax holidays to attract new participants who combined are investing more than $150 million into the Armenian ICT sector. In 2009 more than 10 startups were created in Armenia in the telecom sector. REGULATING THE ICT SECTOR -------------- ¶5. (U) Since 2006, Armenia's ICT sector has been regulated primarily by the Public Services Regulatory Commission (PSRC),while the Commission for the Protection of Economic Competition (Competition Commission) plays a role in determining and countering market dominance. Although it has made impressive strides in bringing new competition to the sector, the PSRC generally lacks the expertise and both the financial and political resources to regulate the ICT sector properly or to accept new approaches and methods in regulating changes in the market. The sector is also hampered by the sometimes overlapping jurisdictions of regulators, as the Ministry of Economy, Competition Commission, and Ministry of Transport and Communications all play a role at various times. YEREVAN 00000052 002 OF 005 ¶6. (U) On September 24, 2009, the Competition Commission determined that ArmenTel and FiberNet held a dominant position in the wholesale internet backbone market and were charging monopoly-level tariffs to competing ISPs (Note: GNC Alfa, the third internet backbone provider, was not yet in the market at the time of the decision. End Note). The Commission determined that the firms were paying $300-400 USD per megabyte (MB) of bandwidth and selling it for $900-1,200. Competing ISPs, in their application to the Commission to investigate the dominance of ArmenTel and FiberNet, claimed that if their pricing policies continued this way, GOAM-planned initiatives in the technology sector would fail and companies would not be able to produce or export a competitive product. After the decision by the Competition Commission and new investments by GNC Alfa (see below), wholesale bandwidth rates have decreased by nearly a factor of ten, but remain high compared to the U.S. and other countries. CATCHING UP AFTER A "LOST DECADE" -------------- ¶7. The emergence of a competitive and innovative ICT sector followed nearly a decade during which the country suffered from the GOAM's ill-fated 1998 sale of a 90% stake in Armentel, the legacy monopoly carrier, to the Greek firm OTE. That sale included a 15-year monopoly on fixed-line, mobile and internet service. However, the price paid by OTE, combined with the cost of upgrading an antiquated, Soviet-era network, soon soured the company on the deal, and Armenian consumers balked at the high tariffs and poor quality of service. ¶8. In 2003 the GOAM applied to the International Court of Arbitration to void Armentel/OTE's monopoly license, contending that OTE had not fulfilled its commitments to invest in upgrades to the telecoms infrastructure. In November 2004 the GOAM and OTE signed a revised agreement under which OTE surrendered its monopoly license. By many accounts, OTE was quite willing to give up its monopoly and even sought to exit Armenia entirely, once it saw that its investment was unlikely to be profitable. In November 2006 OTE sold its 90% stake in ArmenTel to the Russian telecom operator Vimpelcom. In 2007 Vimpelcom bought the remaining 10% from the GOAM, with the stipulation that fixed-line telephony and provision of internet backbone (the fiber optic cable carrying both voice and data) would be opened to competition. MOBILE TELEPHONY IN THE LEAD -------------- ¶9. The PSRC's greatest success to date has occurred in mobile telephony, now the most competitive segment of the ICT sector. After the GOAM broke Armentel's monopoly in this market, Vivacell, with more advanced technology and superior customer service, entered the market in 2006 and quickly took a dominant position while significantly expanding the market. According the Vivacell CEO Ralph Yerikian, Vivacell has an 80 percent market share (Note: This was prior to the entry of Orange Telecom in November; we do not yet have current information about how this has affected market shares. End Note). In 2008 Vivacell was Armenia's largest corporate taxpayer. Orange Telecom has invested approximately USD 200 million (including the license fee) in the sector and began operations in November 2009 (reftel). Both companies have also become major Internet Service Providers (ISPs),using GSM technology. ¶10. (C) Armenia is now seeing more widespread introduction of 3G technology around the country. Armentel announced on January 14 that it now provides 3G service to five major cities: Yerevan, Gyumri, Vanadzor, Etchmiadzin and Abovyan. Pegor Papazian, Director of the Competitiveness Foundation of Armenia, told EconOff that the entire country should have access to 3G service by the end of 2011. Orange already provides 3G service throughout most of the country and Vivacell has announced plans to create a testing zone for introduction of Long-Term Evolution (LTE) technologies in Yerevan. A spokesman for MTS, the Russian owner of Vivacell, told press that Vivacell had invested about $23 million in its network in the first three quarters of 2009, which has allowed the company to cover the entire country with its 3G network. This should allow Vivacell to be the first operator in Armenia to provide mobile TV to its subscribers. Vivacell is also going to study the possibility of introducing 4G LTE service in Armenia during 2010. INTERNET: NATURAL MONOPOLY ERODING YEREVAN 00000052 003 OF 005 -------------- ¶11. (SBU) Provision of wholesale internet backbone has been open to competition since November 2007, and Armentel has since been joined by two other firms: FiberNet (since 2006) and GNC Alfa. Both are constructing new fiber-optic networks that should increase Armenia's internet capacity and provide competition to Armentel in the internet wholesale market. While Armentel earlier this year announced plans to double its fiber optic network -- as well as to upgrade older segments -- by the end of 2009, industry contacts indicate it has failed to meet this goal. Most new ISPs are now buying bandwidth from GNC Alfa and FiberNet. ¶12. (SBU) The entry of these new internet backbone providers has seen wholesale bandwidth prices fall significantly, though there remains room for further reductions. As a monopoly provider, Armentel charged, according to an executive of one ISP, about $4,000 per month for 1 Mbs symmetric guaranteed bandwidth; Fibernet offered service for $1,200 per month when it entered the market in 2006, which prompted Armentel to reduce its rate to $1,600. After GNC Alfa entered in October 2009, the market price fell to around $600-$700/month. Industry contacts estimate that the market price will fall to $400/month in early 2010. ¶13. (U) Despite these price reductions, internet bandwidth remains considerably more expensive than in Georgia (about $200/month per Mbps) or in Ukraine (about $25-30/month, but this is unlikely to be guaranteed; the price in the EU is closer to $100/month). Further wholesale cost reductions may be constrained by high interconnection rates at internet gateways in Georgia and Iran. Armenian backbone providers pay approximately $600 per month for 1 Mbps interconnection to international gateways, several times higher than similar fees in western Europe. Consequently, backbone providers and ISPs strongly support being able to establish fiber-optic connections with Turkey in order to reduce interconnection costs, whether or not the two countries establish relations and open the border. THE MONEY BEHIND THE BANDWIDTH -------------- ¶14. (C) Given the high cost of installing fiber optic cable, these ventures require significant financial backing, and as in most of the CIS, the telecom sector is significantly under Russian control and populated by government insiders. GNC Alfa executives were evasive about their chief backers, but informed speculation is that its primary funding comes from GazProm; the network is being routed along gas pipelines from Georgia to Iran. GNC is constructing a new gateway from Iran, as well as building new gateways linking Armenia with Georgia, and there is speculation that GNC is primarily a front for Russian efforts to establish a direct data link to Iran. ¶15. (C) Fibernet is believed to be owned in large part by former Minister of Transportation and Communications Andranik Manukian, who was in office at the time FiberNet began operations. He also owns the building where Vivacell has its headquarters. (Note: Fibernet's network is being routed along railway lines throughout Armenia. It has been in operation and reportedly has been providing bandwidth since 2006, a year before the market was formally opened to competition. End Note). ¶16. (C) Some contacts have suggested that the GOAM sought to break the Armentel monopoly in order to benefit former President Robert Kocharian. A knowledgeable source alleged Kocharian had a significant ownership interest in the company at the time it was allowed to enter the mobile telephony market (it was sold to Russia's MTS in fall 2007). (Comment: While not possible to verify definitively, such a hypothesis seems consistent with the general tendency in Armenia for companies to give a piece of the action to a GOAM insider in order to avoid trouble. Armentel at this time was also owned by Greece's OTE, and therefore had no "inside track" with the GOAM. End Comment). SERVICE REMAINS SPOTTY -------------- ¶17. (SBU) Despite entry of new providers, internet service still has considerable room for improvement. The major internet providers include Armentel (dba Beeline),connecting to the home via DSL; Vivacell and Orange (both using GSM), Arminco (various). None of them yet manage to provide 1 Mbps (a common standard for home broadband internet) reliably, though some, including Orange, advertise service up to 5.4 YEREVAN 00000052 004 OF 005 Mbps. Service is generally sufficient for static use (e-mail, web-browsing),and usually for audio streaming, but is not reliable for video streaming. We are already hearing reports that customers who flocked to new ISPs like Icon and Orange in search of faster and more reliable internet service have begun deserting those providers, many gravitating to Vivacell. According to local contacts, both Orange (in operation for two months) and Icon are in poor financial condition and have been laying off staff. AND PRICES REMAIN HIGH -------------- ¶18. Reductions in bandwidth costs have also led to reductions in retail internet prices, though prices remain higher than in the U.S. or EU. For example, 1 Mbps home internet service in Armenia using ADSL or WiMax has a monthly fee of about $88, compared to about $30 in the U.S. The usability and quality of the service in Armenia would be sub-par when compared to the U.S. An entry level (128 kbps) broadband service in Armenia costs about $20 per month. In contrast to the broadband service providers, internet service from mobile phone companies (Vivacell, Orange) is metered, with additional charges imposed beyond a certain amount of data transfer (e.g. for those who engage in significant video streaming or music/film downloading). At the high end, the 15 Gigabyte package runs about $52 per month, with the low end 3 Gigabyte package priced at $24. U-COM, provides 1 Mbps service for AMD 12,000 (about $32) per month as part of a "triple play" package (below),though it requires fiber to the home (FTTH),which is not widely available outside downtown Yerevan. CONNECTING THE "LAST MILE" -------------- ¶19. (U) With increased competition and capacity in the internet backbone, the next step will be to address the connection from ISP hub to the home -- the so-called "last mile." At present Vivacell and Orange are best positioned, as they can leverage their GSM mobile phone technology to create a fast, wireless connection. Icon's WiMax is likely to be less successful; it is inherently slower than GSM and its key advantage -- wider geographic coverage in lightly populated areas -- is of limited value in urban areas with plentiful cell phone coverage. However, neither GSM nor WiMax can provide the level of service of fiber to the home (FTTH). At present only U-Com provides this connection, and only in Yerevan, with no plans to expand to other cities. (Note: One obstacle U-Com and other new entrants face is the lack of an interconnection facility with Armentel's network at any location outside Yerevan. We will report more on this septel. End Note). THE BROADBAND ARMENIA PROJECT -------------- ¶20. (SBU) GNC'S Faramazian told Econoff that the future of ICT in Armenia is in "triple play," one fiber-optic line to the home that provides cable television, internet and internet telephony (VoIP). A GOAM initiative envisions creating a nationwide backbone fiber-optic network that would offer non-discriminatory access to all ISPs and mobile telephony providers. Known as the Broadband Armenia project, the GOAM, with some funding from the World Bank, foresees providing "triple play" capacity and interconnection to all other fiber optic networks. The goal is to provide 100 Mbps. of service to every village in Armenia. The GOAM would include as part of this initiative a "PC for All" program, as computer penetration in the villages is also quite low. ¶21. (U) While initially envisioned as a full-scale fiber-optic network, planned upgrades by Armentel and the entry of GNC Alfa and FiberNet make it more likely that the GOAM would seek instead to interconnect these networks and fill in the gaps and provide some level of redundancy. This would be the preferred approach, according to the Competitiveness Foundation's Papazian. The initial draft study is expected in mid-February. WHITHER BLACKBERRY? -------------- ¶22. (U) Another area that still requires development is support for wireless devices (e.g. Blackberries). Until recently, such devices did not work at all in Armenia, except at the airport where it was close enough to the border to get coverage from a Turkish provider. There is still no public, Armenia-specific service for these devices at present. However, those with international-roaming data SIM cards from YEREVAN 00000052 005 OF 005 other countries will now work here. (Note: Because of this capability post is now in the process of issuing Blackberries to FSOs. End Note). COMMENT -------------- ¶23. (C) The inC^dQQY#QQnftransparency in governance, some elements of the GOAM may be less interested in greater transparency and might therefore still hamper further development of the sector. Costs remain a serious problem, and will need to be addressed in part by reducing international interconnection charges; a link to Turkey's fiber-optic network would prove very useful in bringing this about. We can expect further improvements if the various GOAM agencies involved in telecommunications regulation can sort out their overlapping jurisdictions and direct their efforts toward promoting investment, competition and innovation in the sector. Developments also seem to be highly influenced by increasing Russian dominance in the sector. We will report more extensively on Russia's economic interests in Armenia septel. END COMMENT YOVANOVITCH