DECISION ON NEW TARIFFS OF ARMENTEL TO BE MADE BY MID
OCTOBER
05-09-2006 19:40:00 | Armenia | Economy
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 5, NOYAN TAPAN. The company ArmenTel
submitted a bid to the RA Public Services Regulatory Commission,
proposing that the tariffs of fixed-line phone and Internet
services be increased next year. It is proposed that the current
monthly tariff of 1,100 drams for fixed-line phone services be
increased to 3,000 drams (about 7.5 USD), while the tariff for
business subscribers be lowered from 4,800 to 4,200 drams.
The company proposes reducing the time, during which the
subscriber may speak on the phone free of charge, from the
current 360 minutes to 280 minutes. It is proposed that the
minumum per-minute tariff be increased from 5 to 6 drams. This
tariff will be used from 281st minute to 1,000th minute. To
recap, at present the minimum per-minute tariff of 5 drams is
used from 360th minute to 1,600th minute. ArmenTel proposes that
the maximum per-minute tariff of 9 drams be left unchanged.
According to ArmenTel's bid, the per-minute charge for
using the Internet through a phone should be raised from the
current tariff of 1 dram to 2.4 drams.
According to the bid, it is proposed that the previous
payment for provision of a phone number (24,000 drams) be
restored instead of the current payment of 12,000 drams, and for
natural persons it should be fixed at 28,000 drams instead of
the current payment of 14,400 drams.
At the same time, the company proposes lowering the tariffs
of intercity and international calls, as well as calls to mobile
phones. For example, it is proposed that during busy hours (7 am
to 11 pm), the tariff of intercity calls be lowered from the
current 20 drams to 16.8 drams, and the per-minute tariff for
making calls from a fixed-line phone to a mobile phone - from 70
to 54 drams. During not busy hours (11 pm to 7 am) it is
proposed using a tariff of 13.2 drams for intercity calls
instead of the current 14 drams, and a tariff of 42 drams for
calls to a mobile phone instead of the current tariff of 49
drams.
To recap, the RA Public Services Regulatory Commission must
make a decision about ArmenTel's bid within 45 days.