Armenia has come a long way to its current internet status, with the connection speed and number of customers seeking to use more advanced technologies showing a significant increase in the past several years. While shifts towards a less expensive internet have also been made, it still remains an unlikely chance to get the best value for money in Armenia as far as internet is concerned.

While prices on internet in Armenia largely depend on the market situation and are beyond regulation, specialists expect them to continue to decrease depending on customer-driven demand and competition.

The Public Services Regulatory Commission (PSRC), a body regulating tariffs on public utilities, says retail internet prices in Armenia today are twice as low as they were in 2008. But prices on the market of low-speed internet connection remain proportionally higher than those on the market of high-speed internet.

PSRC member Samvel Arabajyan says that Armenia’s having only two gateways for internet largely conditions the existing high prices.

“Unlike our neighbors we have only two lines – one from Iran and the other from Georgia and we also pay quite a lot to the Georgian and Turkish operators for transit,” says Arabajyan.

According to the official, the number of customers for broadband internet in Armenia has increased 6-7 times in the past year or so. As of the last quarter of 2008, 10,000 customers used broadband, but today the number of such customers reaches 70,000-75,000, which includes 3G, Wi Max, Wi Fi, DSL and other means. The number of customers using Dial-up internet has decreased from some 65,000 to 45,000-40,000.

“Whereas two or three years ago a majority of internet users were those switched to Dial-up connection, which was slow and caused multiple problems, today customers try to enter a more advanced [technology] market and use faster and higher quality connection. These technologies are also more reliable in terms of information security,” says Arabajyan.

According to PSRC summary of internet traffic in Armenia in the past several years: In 2005 internet connection speed in Armenia was 15 megabits and prices were equivalent to $17,000. In 2006 the connection speed index reached 56 megabits. At the beginning of 2007, it was 115 megabits and according to the 2008 data, the connection speed exceeded 1 gigabit (1,083 megabits).

“As of January 1, 2010, we registered an index of more than 3.6 gigabits, which is loaded by 90 percent today. I think that this dynamics will continue till the end of the year and will reach at least 6.5-7 gigabits,” says Arabajyan. This basically means a potentially improved quality of internet services rendered to the population.

Arabajyan also announced that a fund for universal public services will soon be set up tasked with ensuring access to telecommunication technologies, including internet, in provinces and rural areas of Armenia where their provision is not profitable for business. He said that international experience has already been studied with assistance from the World Bank.

Large operators are expected to provide funding for planned activities, while the direction of the implementation of measures will be decided by a board of trustees, he added.