IT Concerns in Armenia
Once dubbed the Silicon Valley of the former Soviet Union — and even though the IT sector is one area of the economy registering genuine growth — ArmInfo reports that the use of computer technology in Armenia is a matter of concern.
The level of IT use by society in Armenia is one of the lowest in the world and is comparable to the indices of Ghana, Kenya and Zimbabwe, says the executive director of the Union of IT companies Karen Vardanyan.
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In order to improve the situation Vardanyan suggests equipping schools with relatively cheap portable computers - Armenia will need some $15-20 mln for buying each such computer for $100.
The biggest obstacle to IT development is Armentel. It is only through the removal of its monopoly that things will improve. The cost is way to high, the quality way to poor and the resources to limited to get normal people using the internet. Most people will not learn to use computers until they have some use for them. Currently, there is very little need as software is not in Armenian and people do not see how using a computer can improve their life. In my opinion, the national government must destroy the monopoly structure so people are able to have cheap and reasonable access to the internet thus increasing the need for computing in Armenia.
Comment by Jason — September 25, 2006 @ 7:43 pm
Jason, it was the government that propped up the ArmenTel monopoly - they made it a monopoly as a reward for modernizing the land-line infrastructure.
I wonder how easy will it be to break the contract with Armentel about the internet monopoly. I am not familiar with legal aspect of the cell phone issue and how the government got away with bringing in Vivacell without being sued.
Comment by nazarian — September 26, 2006 @ 1:36 am
Jason, Nazarian
do not think that they are all stupids in the goverment. They know that telecom is one of the most profitable industires. And they are not interested at all to break monopoly. It much easier to terrorise OTE once every two years with treat to break the monopoly, taka a big bribe and settle for another 2 years. Armentel is a comercial company, it is interested in monopoly and collecting high revenues. The goverment is culpable of the state of affairs.
Comment by Gagik — September 26, 2006 @ 9:13 am
True, the government created the monopoly as it has created all of the monopolies. The National Assembly feels it must some how bow down in thanks but the truth is far from the reality. Armentel makes money hand over fist yet in the regions the land lines are awful! In some regions, one must call for hours before a connection will be made to anywhere outside the local PBX.
In short, the government could smash the monopolies if it wanted but so many of those in the National Assembly are monopolists. It truly is holding Armenia back. These monopolies, starting with Armentel, must be demolished!
Comment by Jason — September 26, 2006 @ 9:31 am
I am skeptical about this guy’s statement, I think he is grossly exaggerating for whatever motive he has. Although I think that schools do need to start thinking about installing computer labs and get kids to learn basic programs like Microsoft Office or whatever, I think everyone will agree that investing in books as well as school renovations should take priority. Many schools are in total shambles and are unfit to be operating as far as I am concerned. And if IT was such a problem, millions of dollars would not be invested towards IT development in Armenia. There are hundreds of companies doing business in Armenia in software and communications development, and arguably hundreds more will open in the coming years, despite currently high costs for Internet access. I work for one of them…
Comment by Christian — September 27, 2006 @ 6:33 pm
Completely pathetic. What kind of leaders do we have who don’t even grant its citizens affordable Internet access? In some cities in the world, Internet access is a citizen’s *right* and is given for free (like water). (e.g. Bologna, Italy. see http://www.internetnews.com/bus-news/article.php/40301)
The “leaders” by name need to be ousted, because they are clearly not working in the favor of the citizens of Armenia. What’s stopping us from ousting these guys? 2 million Armenian citizens versus two hundred (upper bound) corrupt leaders? I never understand how the masses remain complacent in such situations…
Come on! We can finish the job in less than $1M financing…
Comment by Sergey — September 30, 2006 @ 1:49 pm