Thursday, January 10 2019 22:02

ArmInfo.The Public Services  Regulatory Commission (PSRC) considers unreasonable all the  allegations of the telecommunications company Ucom, addressed to the  Commission regarding the creation of unequal competitive conditions  concerning the announced tender for granting permission to use radio  frequencies of 811-821 MHz and 852-862 MHz. This is stated in the  official statement of PSRC.

The Commission expresses bewilderment about the fact that the company  raised this issue publicly, given that the decision was made as a  result of lengthy and comprehensive discussions and agreed with all  interested parties and government bodies, including published on  www.e-draft.am and www.psrc.am. 

However, according to the source, the company participated in a  meeting of the commission, during which this decision was discussed  and did not oppose.The PSRC considers it unacceptable that the  company compares the 2018 tender with the tender announced by the  Commission in 2013 to allow the use of the 800 MHz radio frequency  band, during which the starting price and obligations amounted to  6.225 billion drams, which was accepted on the basis of the PSRC  proposal, which the government approved 6 June 2013. The decision,  according to the report, was aimed in particular at the transition  from analog television to digital and the introduction of LTE  Advanced mobile communication technology, which is the fulfillment of  Armenia's commitment to the EU. 

At the same time, the conditions of the competition interested only  the company Ucom, which was declared the winner. During the  competition, announced in 2013, LTE Advanced technology was not  introduced to the telecommunications market, and the winner of the  competition was given the opportunity to choose 80% of Armenian  communities to which broadband Internet coverage would apply to the  competition.  Taking into account the above and the lack of coverage  of LTE Advanced mobile technology in 121 of the most problematic  locations, as well as similar competitions held in countries with  similar markets (Georgia, Moldova), the starting price of the tender  announced in 2018 was 1.5 billion drams.In addition to the fact that  the winning company, in addition to the commitments made in the 2013  competition, was additionally instructed to provide the  above-mentioned settlements with LTE Advance coverage. Meanwhile,  according to the estimate previously presented to Ucom, to fulfill  this commitment, investments in the amount of 5.3 - 6.1 billion drams  will be required."Leaving the conclusions to the public, we regret  that Ucom, owning the above information and taking part in the  decision-making process, spreading misinformation, tried to turn the  PSRC decision into a subject of various speculations," the message  said.