InternationalArmenia sees investment in IT sector
Published: Saturday February 21, 2009
Yerevan - In order to withstand the difficulties generated by the international financial crisis, the government of Armenia adopted several decisions to assist companies and the domestic financial market.
Foreign companies that invest more than $1 million will receive a three-year tax holiday under one of the provisions. Likewise, the rug-making industry will be exempt from value-added tax and tax on profits. (A prominent rug manufacturer told the Reporter, however, that most Armenian rugs are exported and are thus exempt from value-added tax anyway.)
Despite the overall state of the economy and the ensuing unease, Armenia is registering some positive development. A recent agreement signed between the Armenian-Norwegian Armenian Datacom Company (ADC) and Delta Partners is significant. Delta Partners will invest $6 million in ADC, with the aim of developing and broadening the company's service package and the geographic coverage of its services.
Avetik Kalantaryan ADC's chief commercial officer told the Armenian Reporter: "We expect that such strategic consultancy and participation in our company's stock will help solve the issue of expanding the coverage of our fiber optic network to Armenia's regions." In his words, the company is interested in expanding its network to the northern regions, up to the Armenian-Georgian border. "We are also going to study, from an economic development point of view, all the cities, regional centers, and other territories en route, in order to establish connection in the regions, and in general ensure service as a provider and operator, thus supporting local businesses," says Mr. Kalantaryan.
The second direction of development planned by the company is equally interesting. "It is envisaged that after the regional coverage we will also broaden our services and will try to become involved in the market's new segments, for example, the apartment subscribers' segment, where for many years numerous Armenian companies have been offering their services. It is an interesting and promising market. Our companies have decided to also study this market and try to enter it by offering the residents modern package services through a state-of-the-art telecommunication network as is being done in the European and North American markets. Such an expansion will create a business field around us and also other companies, which will want to include their services in our package," notes Mr. Kalantaryan.
Is it possible that ADC in the near future will start competing with ArmenTel-Beeline in the landline sector? Mr. Kalataryan responds to this question with a smile and notes: "One of the newspapers has even published that we are throwing down the gauntlet to ArmenTel. However, it is very early to talk about ‘throwing down the gauntlet.' It is early because we are a cable network operator. In other words, the customer will receive our services through a cable transmission, which first of all supposes construction of cable transmissions for our corporate subscribers and in the future, for private subscribers. Since we have not reached our subscribers, it is too early to talk of providing new services."
This seems to be just a matter of time. The company's network is fiber optic and can include various services including telephone connections based on any technology. In Mr. Kalantaryan's words, they envisage offering telecommunication services to resident-subscribers by the summer of 2009.
In Yerevan, the number of "computerized" apartments continues to increase, as does the number of people who are tired of using extremely slow and unreliable dial-up Internet connection want to have access to a high-quality, fast connection.
