RFE/RL reports that ArmenTel, the dreaded telecommunications monopoly, has promised to resolve the problem that makes ringing any of its mobile phone subscribers a nightmare by the end of the month.

Making or receiving phone calls has been extremely difficult and at times impossible for ArmenTel service users ever since the second operator, the Lebanese-owned VivaCell, launched its network on July 1. ArmenTel has still not provided a clear explanation of the causes of the breakdown. But many believe that its network was not prepared for increased phone traffic and a massive influx of new subscribers that has resulted from a drastic reduction in ArmenTel’s wireless tariffs.

Even though the Armenian government is partly responsible for the situation (Kocharian signed the agreement giving ArmenTel a 15-year monopoly in July 1997 when he was Prime Minister), officials are also reportedly unhappy with the situation. ArmenTel faces huge fines of up to $500,000 for the breakdown.

In an interesting press review, RFE/RL also quotes 168 Zham as saying that the privatization of Armenia’s soviet-era film studio is a foregone conclusion. It alleges that the tender was staged and will be given to Gerard Cafesjian and his local business partner, Bagrat Sarkisyan. Both are already involved with Channel Armenia which played its role perfectly for Kocharian in the 2003 Presidential Elections.

Meanwhile, Golos Armenii says that the Circus is also up for grabs. Somehow, the present director is believed to be looking to buy it for $2 million (where he got the money is another question, I guess). However, the brother of Khachatur Sukiasyan (”Grzo”) is also interested in the premises. Alarmingly, the paper reports that bth men want to turn the building into a hotel.

Finally, 168 Zham also has an interesting op-ed on the controversial Yektan Turkyilmaz case.

“By imprisoning [Turkish scholar] Yektan Turkyilmaz the Armenian authorities would alienate numerous friends of our people and deliver a big present to those who deny the Armenian Genocide,” “168 Zham” says in a separate article. “Turkyilmaz did not kill anyone in the toilet of a famous Yerevan café, did not run over the mother of an infant girl. Nor did he beat up journalists under the noses of police officers. He simply took interest in the history of the Armenian people and in particular its old books. That, according to Armenian law-enforcement bodies, is a more serious sin than the above-mentioned crimes.”

All this and more can be read online at http://www.armenialiberty.org, probably the best source of Armenian news in the english language.