Armenia’s Public Services Regulatory Commission (PSRC) has fixed procedures on termination of long-distance calls

YEREVAN, February 9. /ARKA/. Armenia’s Public Services Regulatory Commission (PSRC) has fixed procedures on termination of long-distance calls.

ArmenTel Telecommunications Company (under the Beeline brand) and K-Telecom (VivaCell-MTS) are Armenia’s two mobile operators. The third operator – FTA Telecom (subsidiary of France Telecom, under the Orange brand) – is to operate from fall 2009.

The two acting local mobile operators have lodged a complaint to PSRC against the shadow market, claiming others often block long-distance calls before end users receive them.

With a relevant draft project being submitted to PSRC, the committee has fixed the term “termination” referring to similar activities and has adopted rules of delivering long-distance communication services, said Gevorg Gevorgyan, head of Communications Department, PSRC.

According to the PSRC decision, termination in other networks is impossible without a relevant agreement with the mobile operator.

“This will help us combat the shadow economy and work on legal grounds,” Gevorgyan added.

In case of illegal termination of long-distance calls, operators can stop providing voice services to the given individuals, informing PSRC about suspension of services within 10 days.

During the December 3, 2008 meeting, PSRC Chairman Robert Nazaryan expresses discontent about the roaming services of local mobile operators, calling them a “civilized racketeering”.

In response, VivaCell-MTS General Manager Ralph Yirikian said network connection problems are due to foreign operators’ desire to save on the satellite connection by involving other mobile operators as mediators and using IP Telephony instead.
On June 1, new roaming rules enter into force in Armenia. –0--