Telephone
Armenia has 2.8 million subscribers in total, a 36% penetration rate.
| Rank | Operator | Technology | Subscribers |
Ownership |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Viva Cell | GSM, GPRS, EDGE, UMTS, HSDPA, LTE | 1,750,000 (June 2011)
1,800,000 (March 2012) |
MTS (100%) |
| 2 | Beeline | GSM, GPRS, EDGE, UMTS, HSDPA | 550,000 (June 2011)
600,000 (March 2012) |
VimpelCom (90%). Armenian Government (10%) |
| 3 | Orange | GSM, GPRS, EDGE, UMTS, HSDPA | 330,000 (June 2011)
400,000 (March 2012) |
Subsidiary of France Télécom (100%) |
There are three telephone companies in Armenia: Beeline, which holds all fixed-line and 30% of cellular networks, Viva Cell MTS, which holds 70% of cellular networks, and Orange. Beeline has around 550,000 mobile subscribers, and Viva Cell MTS has around 1,750,000, and Orange has around 250,000. At the moment, many of these companies are in the process of modernising and expanding their coverage of the country. Viva Cell MTS and Beeline are two Russian giants with strong coverage in Armenia. Orange is a newcomer to Armenia. Orange is possibly the smallest of three companies but it is currently investing millions of dollars expanding its coverage.
3G service was announced by Beeline in the summer of 2008. Viva Cell MTS announced theirs in October 2008. Both Viva Cell MTS and Beeline claim to cover 90% of the Armenian population with 2G services and up to 60% with their 3G services. Orange currently has the smallest 3G coverage but it is rapidly growing. The 2G coverage of Orange is of around 70% of the population, but it is also rapidly growing.
Read more about this topic: Communications In Armenia
Famous quotes containing the word telephone:
“It is possible that the telephone has been responsible for more business inefficiency than any other agency except laudanum.... In the old days when you wanted to get in touch with a man you wrote a note, sprinkled it with sand, and gave it to a man on horseback. It probably was delivered within half an hour, depending on how big a lunch the horse had had. But in these busy days of rush-rush-rush, it is sometimes a week before you can catch your man on the telephone.”
—Robert Benchley (1889–1945)
“It’s a hard feeling when everyone’s in a hurry to talk to somebody else, but not to talk to you. Sometimes you get a feeling of need to talk to somebody. Somebody who wants to listen to you other than “Why didn’t you get me the right number?””
—Heather Lamb, U.S. telephone operator. As quoted in Working, book 2, by Studs Terkel (1973)
“The press and politicians. A delicate relationship. Too close, and danger ensues. Too far apart and democracy itself cannot function without the essential exchange of information. Creative leaks, a discreet lunch, interchange in the Lobby, the art of the unattributable telephone call, late at night.”
—Howard Brenton (b. 1942)