RFE/RL reports that what was Armenia’s mobile phone monopoly, ArmenTel, faces fines of up to $500,000 for the collapse of its cellular network. Since its monopoly on mobile telephony ended with the arrival of VivaCell on 1 July, it’s been virtually impossible to ring from an ArmenTel phone or contact ArmenTel subscribers. The situation has been getting better but ArmenTel mobile phone customers are still more likely to find themselves unable to get through to any phone and vice-versa.

The company, 90 percent of which is owned by Greece’s OTE telecom giant, has still not identified the causes of the breakdown despite repeated demands from the Ministry of Transport and Communications. The planned meeting of the State Commission on Protection of Economic Competition suggests that the Armenian government may be losing patience with ArmenTel.

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Meanwhile, its competitor, VivaCell, has expressed concern about the situation, saying that it is also incurring losses as a result. Still, the crisis appears to have helped VivaCell attract tens of thousands of subscribers in a matter of weeks.

Incidentally, I’m one of the new subscribers to VivaCell and couldn’t be happier. The company is already pressing ahead with extending its mobile phone coverage to the territory around Lake Sevan.

The new operator, which currently covers only Yerevan and surrounding areas, is pressing ahead with its ambitious expansion plans, having signed multimillion-dollar contracts with Western telecom equipment suppliers. France’s Alcatel group said on Wednesday that it has teamed up with the Greek firm Intracom to install a modern network capable of catering for up to 400,000 subscribers all over Armenia.

At last. Until VivaCell’s appearance on the market there were only 200,000 mobile phone subscribers in Armenia as compared to 1.7 million in Azerbaijan and over 1 million in Georgia. With the arrival of VivaCell I won’t be surprised if Armenia hits 600,000 by the end of the year.