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ARMENIA'S TELECOMMUNICATION INDUSTRY: FINDINGS, PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS
15:52 * 11.04.14
The Ameria group of companies recently presented its regular survey
into Armenia's telecommunication industry, current situation,
challenges and prospects.
The survey involves cable TV, mobile communication and wire telephone
communication as well as the use of gadgetry in Yerevan. This industry
is rapidly developing, but the statistics on Armenia is not full.
Tert.am interviewed Mr Haykaz Fanyan, Advisor, Ameria management
advisory services.
What's the reason for selecting the telecommunication industry for
the survey? What questions is the survey supposed to answer for the
industry and those interested in it?
The telecommunication industry is Armenia's leading and dynamically
developing industry. Our survey enables us to conduct an in-depth
analysis of the industry, form a clearer idea of competition and
find out more attractive markets for the industry's development. The
survey will also help enterprises to develop a flexible strategy to
plan their further activities and meet possible challenges.
Besides, we have tried to present the situation in the industry "as
seen by the consumer." That is, the survey involves more than 1,000
respondents, which obviously shows the consumer behavior and allows
forecasts for the industry.
What problems did the survey focus on?
Armenia's telecommunication industry is liable to regulation and is
being supervised by the Public Services Regulatory Commission. In
2011, the Commission decided to differentiate active users. However,
according to the information at our disposal, in presenting technical
reports, mobile operators partially meet the requirements envisaged by
the decision. The companies, which are subsidiaries of transnational
companies in Armenia, prepare technical reports applying their own
methods. I think that, to have a clearer picture of the industry,
we need to develop a methodology of preparing technical and economic
reports.
Moreover, cable communication is one of the most important
subindustries of the telecommunication industry, and we are still
collecting information on this relatively new subindustry. Armenia's
Statistical Service is hardly keeping statistics on this subindustry.
However, a decision has been made on changes in report forms, which
implies that we will have detailed data on the subindustry next year.
What interesting trends did the survey reveal? Is there any finding
that you experts found surprising?
There are certainly interesting revelations; I will introduce some of
them. The survey found that 86 percent of the population aged 15-69
has only one mobile phone, with only about 12% using two. We expected
however, a greater number of people to have two or more mobiles. It
is further interesting to find that among those aged 25-34, one in
four is a user of mobile internet A surprising revelation for us was
that the wire telephone communication has not lost its actuality in
Armenia. Around 69% of those aged 15-69 use that form of communication
every day.
How about the competitiveness in the telecommunication sector?
It is, first of all, worthwhile to mention that the structural markets
in this sector (mobile telecommunication, wire telephones, internet
access service, cable TV) see different levels and different degrees of
intensiveness of cooperation. Though the Armenian telecommunication's
main structural market, i.e. - the mobile market, is characterized
by the oligopolic structure, the telecommunication market is the
economy's most competitive sector. Moreover, as our study reveals,
the Armenian telecommunication market is governed by the "three and
four rule", which implies the presence of three main stakeholders on
the market, with the shares of the first, Viva Cell-MTS (approx 60%),
four times topping those of the third, Orange.
And that in turn testifies to the presence of an optimal competitive
environment.
Mobile numbers' redirection service was launched on March 1. What
are your expectations and forecasts in this connection?
Our surveys conducted in Yerevan allow us to state that only 10
percent of the population has expressed a willingness to use that
service. But the countries' experience demonstrates that the real
situation is going to be more restricted - five to seven percent.
Nonetheless, we do not rule out a different situation either, given
especially that the operators actively work in that direction. For
example, the market's leader, VivaCell MTS, has initiated a competitive
positioning protection, which means it is working towards preventing
its customers' flow, while Beeline and Oraange are trying offensive
marketing. The competitiveness measures have not been fully resolved
yet, but it is already clear that the competitiveness will grow
tenser. By the way, the outcomes of our survey in Yerevan demonstrate
that the VivaCell MTS subscribers are relatively less inclined to
use the mobile number redirection service.
http://www.tert.am/en/news/2014/04/11/ameria/
15:52 * 11.04.14
The Ameria group of companies recently presented its regular survey
into Armenia's telecommunication industry, current situation,
challenges and prospects.
The survey involves cable TV, mobile communication and wire telephone
communication as well as the use of gadgetry in Yerevan. This industry
is rapidly developing, but the statistics on Armenia is not full.
Tert.am interviewed Mr Haykaz Fanyan, Advisor, Ameria management
advisory services.
What's the reason for selecting the telecommunication industry for
the survey? What questions is the survey supposed to answer for the
industry and those interested in it?
The telecommunication industry is Armenia's leading and dynamically
developing industry. Our survey enables us to conduct an in-depth
analysis of the industry, form a clearer idea of competition and
find out more attractive markets for the industry's development. The
survey will also help enterprises to develop a flexible strategy to
plan their further activities and meet possible challenges.
Besides, we have tried to present the situation in the industry "as
seen by the consumer." That is, the survey involves more than 1,000
respondents, which obviously shows the consumer behavior and allows
forecasts for the industry.
What problems did the survey focus on?
Armenia's telecommunication industry is liable to regulation and is
being supervised by the Public Services Regulatory Commission. In
2011, the Commission decided to differentiate active users. However,
according to the information at our disposal, in presenting technical
reports, mobile operators partially meet the requirements envisaged by
the decision. The companies, which are subsidiaries of transnational
companies in Armenia, prepare technical reports applying their own
methods. I think that, to have a clearer picture of the industry,
we need to develop a methodology of preparing technical and economic
reports.
Moreover, cable communication is one of the most important
subindustries of the telecommunication industry, and we are still
collecting information on this relatively new subindustry. Armenia's
Statistical Service is hardly keeping statistics on this subindustry.
However, a decision has been made on changes in report forms, which
implies that we will have detailed data on the subindustry next year.
What interesting trends did the survey reveal? Is there any finding
that you experts found surprising?
There are certainly interesting revelations; I will introduce some of
them. The survey found that 86 percent of the population aged 15-69
has only one mobile phone, with only about 12% using two. We expected
however, a greater number of people to have two or more mobiles. It
is further interesting to find that among those aged 25-34, one in
four is a user of mobile internet A surprising revelation for us was
that the wire telephone communication has not lost its actuality in
Armenia. Around 69% of those aged 15-69 use that form of communication
every day.
How about the competitiveness in the telecommunication sector?
It is, first of all, worthwhile to mention that the structural markets
in this sector (mobile telecommunication, wire telephones, internet
access service, cable TV) see different levels and different degrees of
intensiveness of cooperation. Though the Armenian telecommunication's
main structural market, i.e. - the mobile market, is characterized
by the oligopolic structure, the telecommunication market is the
economy's most competitive sector. Moreover, as our study reveals,
the Armenian telecommunication market is governed by the "three and
four rule", which implies the presence of three main stakeholders on
the market, with the shares of the first, Viva Cell-MTS (approx 60%),
four times topping those of the third, Orange.
And that in turn testifies to the presence of an optimal competitive
environment.
Mobile numbers' redirection service was launched on March 1. What
are your expectations and forecasts in this connection?
Our surveys conducted in Yerevan allow us to state that only 10
percent of the population has expressed a willingness to use that
service. But the countries' experience demonstrates that the real
situation is going to be more restricted - five to seven percent.
Nonetheless, we do not rule out a different situation either, given
especially that the operators actively work in that direction. For
example, the market's leader, VivaCell MTS, has initiated a competitive
positioning protection, which means it is working towards preventing
its customers' flow, while Beeline and Oraange are trying offensive
marketing. The competitiveness measures have not been fully resolved
yet, but it is already clear that the competitiveness will grow
tenser. By the way, the outcomes of our survey in Yerevan demonstrate
that the VivaCell MTS subscribers are relatively less inclined to
use the mobile number redirection service.
http://www.tert.am/en/news/2014/04/11/ameria/