Author: Taslakhchian Andranik

VIVACELL UNVEILS PLANS FOR LTE ROLL-OUT IN 2010
BYLINE: Michael Lacquiere

World Markets Research Centre
Global Insight
November 3, 2009

The global push towards LTE appears to reaching the CIS as MTS’
Armenian unit pledges to deploy the technology.

Armenia’s leading mobile operator, Mobile TeleSystems (MTS)-owned
K-Telecom, has indicated that it plans to launch 4G mobile broadband
services based on LTE technology, according to a company statement
cited by ARKA. While it has not revealed any specifics, K-Telecom,
which operates under the "VivaCell" brand, has explained its decision
by pointing to forecasts that suggest mobile broadband access growth
will continue in 2010. At present, it has indicated that around 600,000
of its 2.045 million customers are subscribers to data products,
utilising GPRS, EDGE or UMTS technology, including around 400,000
3G subscribers.

IHS Global Insight Perspective

Significance: While it has not revealed any specifics, K-Telecom has
explained its decision by pointing to forecasts suggesting that mobile
broadband access growth will continue in 2010.

Implications: Having just announced nationwide 3G coverage and with
strong 3G subscriber uptake, the progression to LTE-based services
is understandable.

Outlook: K-Telecom will be one of the pioneers of LTE in the CIS,
a region that has traditionally lagged behind neighbouring European
markets in terms of telecoms sector development, but is now maturing.

Outlook and Implications

Progressive Move from Armenia’s Dominant Mobile Operator: K-Telecom,
like its rival Armentel (owned by MTS’ Russian rival, VimpelCom),
received its 3G licence in October 2007 and launched 3G services in
April 2009, some six months after Armentel. Just last week, K-Telecom
announced that it had achieved nationwide 3G coverage (see Armenia:
30 October 2009: ). Within this context and on the strength of
its 3G subscriber uptake, the progression to LTE-based services is
understandable, particularly as the operator should be able to use
existing 2G and 3G spectrum. K-Telecom had a market share of around 78%
at the end of 2008, so is well-positioned to make a strong assault
on the 4G market. It will face increased competition, with France
Telecom’s Orange Armenia due to launch commercial operations before
the end of the year in the 3G and 2G segment. While Orange Armenia
is planning to enter as a low-cost operator, K-Telecom’s 4G services
will be aimed at a smaller niche of higher-end subscribers.

Global Push Towards LTE Reaches CIS: Global momentum has been growing
in recent months for LTE network commitments from operators, with
the Global Mobile Suppliers Association (GSA) reporting 42 such
commitments globally as of late-October 2008. The GSA anticipates
that 15 such networks will be launched by the end of 2010, with a
further 33 expected to be in service by the end of 2012, and IHS
Global Insight anticipates that the first such launches may occur
in Scandinavia. K-Telecom has given little detail of its planned
deployments and it is unclear whether it expects its 4G services to be
commercially launched by the end of 2010. Nevertheless, the operator
appears to be one of the pioneers of the technology in the CIS,
a region that has traditionally lagged behind neighbouring European
markets in terms of telecoms sector development. Mobile penetration
levels across the region are now approaching and exceeding triple-digit
levels, and 3G roll-outs are gradually being undertaken.

Operators prowling for high-growth opportunities now appear to be
looking elsewhere, such as South-East Asia and Africa, as the CIS
region evolves from an area of growth potential to a maturing market.

MTS-VimpelCom Battle Continues: The only other hint that LTE roll-outs
might be imminent in the CIS have come from VimpelCom-owned KaR-Tel
in Kazakhstan, which late last month indicated that it had received
regulatory permission to deploy 4G test zones (see Kazakhstan:
27 October 2009: ). The fact that just days later an MTS unit had
announced its own 4G plans is indicative of the ongoing rivalry
between VimpelCom and MTS as they battle for supremacy in the CIS.

NATO: NORMALIZATION OF ARMENIAN-TURKISH RELATIONS TO CONTRIBUTE TO REGIONAL STABILITY

PanARMENIAN.Net
06.11.2009 12:51 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ NATO welcomes the process of Armenian-Turkish
reconciliation, said Robert Simmons, NATO special representative for
Caucasus and Central Asia.

"Normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations will be a stabilizing
factor for the regions suffering from frozen conflicts," he said.

"Armenian-Turkish reconciliation has two aspects: political and
economic. Despite absence of diplomatic relationship, Turkey and
Armenia have trade relations."

Asked about the Protocols, Mr. Simmons voiced hope they will be
ratified by the parliaments soon. As to the Nagorno Karabakh conflict,
he said, "Armenian and Turkish Presidents hold meetings and we hope
for progress."

ARMENIAN AID UNION TO CONTINUE PROGRAMS IN NKR

PanARMENIAN.Net
05.11.2009 18:32 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ NKR Prime Minister Ara Harutyunyan met Armenian Aid
Union (AAU) representatives Viki Marashlyan, Zhirayr Pechekyan and
Margarita Taranyan. The meeting focused on AAU programs implementation
in NKR education and healthcare sphere, as well as celebration of
Union’s 100th anniversary.

AAU Executive Committee Head Viki Marashlyan noted that despite
financial crisis consequences, the organization will try to continue
with its programs, as their implementation in NKR is among AAU
priorities.

Ara Harutyunyan stated that in nearest future NKR government plans
preschool institutions opening and initiation of improvements in
the sphere. NKR Premier added that the government is ready to assist
the Union in program implementation, NKR government’s press service
reported.

AZERBAIJAN COMPLETES INVESTIGATION OF FIRES ON LAND OCCUPIED BY ARMENIA

news.AZ
Nov 5 2009
Azerbaijan

Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources Azerbaijan’s Ecology and
Natural Resources Ministry reports that it has completed monitoring
of arson committed by Armenians in the occupied areas of Azerbaijan.

A report on the monitoring will be sent to international organizations.

Since March this year Armenians have started fires over 250 hectares
in Fizuli and Agdam districts, causing damage worth 248,130 AZN
($308,850), the ministry said.

The Armenians appear to have started the fires in order to conceal
the widespread destruction they have caused in the occupied areas and
to try to link it with high temperatures on those days. The ministry
includes in its report weather statistics for the days in question.

Since 2006, Armenians have been committing arson in occupied
Azerbaijani territory, Azerbaijan’s state news agency AzerTAj reports.

The Armenian side denies arson, saying that the fires occur naturally.

RUSSIA SENSING THREAT FROM ARMENIA-TURKEY RAPPROCHEMENT

PanARMENIAN.Net
04.11.2009 17:05 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenia-Turkey rapprochement protocols pose
many threats to Armenia, specifically in NKR conflict settlement
issue, Armenian Communist Party Leader Ruben Tovmasyan told a
news conference in Yerevan. He expressed RA CP’s protest against
Protocols’ signing and ratification. Nevertheless, Ruben Tovmasyan
noted that documents will in all probability be ratified by Armenian
and Turkish Parliaments. Protocols signing ceremony in Zurich suggested
superpowers’ pressure on Armenia in the issue.

"Today, Turkey trying its best to force Moscow out of the region, so as
to emerge as a regional leader. We must remember that Armenia-Turkey
border is protected by Russian border guards, and Russia has made
significant investments to improve its military base in Armenia,"
Ruben Tovmasyan emphasized. He noted that Moscow feels the threat
posed by Armenia-Turkey rapprochement, and Armenia must preserve the
"sacred friendship with Russia".

GARO KHACHIGIAN’S OUR STATE COMEDY STAGED IN AUSTRALIA

Noyan Tapan
Nov 3, 2009

SYDNEY, NOVEMBER 3, NOYAN TAPAN. Hamazkaine Shant Chapter and the
Hagop Baronian Theatre Group brought comedy in three acts to over 600
Armenian-Australians on Sunday night with the Garo Khachigian-written
Our State (Mer Vijage) play. According to the
website, brightened by a youthful cast, the play, directed by and
starring a veteran of the Sydney-Armenian stage, Mr. Avak Egulian,
was a mirror of Armenian organizational life in Australia.

KIM AVAGYAN’S "YSU STUDENT SCIENTIFIC ORGANIZATION 1922-1972" PUBLISHED AFTER 30 YEARS

PanARMENIAN.Net
02.11.2009 21:06 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Kim Avagyan’s "YSU Student Scientific Organization
1922-1972" was presented on November 2. The book was to have been
published back in 1979. Later, in 1994 its publication was postponed
for some reasons. The book tells the reader about the 50-year history
of YSU student organization.

In their welcoming and congratulatory speeches, participants stressed
the unprecedented value of the book in terms of reliability of, and
reference to, archive data. The author himself said, "My motto is to
keep to archaic facts."

Editor Vladimir Magalyan said it is planned to republish the book
since the version at hand contains minor inaccuracies concerning
names and events.

NALBANDIAN SAID THE ARMENIAN-TURKISH THAW AND THE NAGORNO-KARABAKH NEGOTIATIONS WERE ‘TWO SEPARATE PROCESSES.’

ArmInfo
2009-11-02 16:40:00

ArmInfo. Armenia’s foreign minister has rejected Turkish calls for
concessions in the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh in exchange for the
historic rapprochement between Yerevan and Ankara. The minister made
this statement in an interview with Reuters.

Speaking to Reuters late on Friday, Edward Nalbandian said negotiations
between Turkey and Armenia were over and both sides were obliged to
move quickly to establish diplomatic relations and open their border
under accords signed this month.

Turkish leaders say they want to see progress in negotiations between
Armenia and Turkish ally Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh before
parliament in Ankara ratifies the accords, a link Armenia rejects.

"Why did we sign two protocols if we are not going to ratify and
implement them?" Nalbandian, 53, said in an interview in the Armenian
capital, Yerevan.

"I think the whole international community is waiting for quick
ratification and implementation and respect for the agreements which
are in the protocols," he said, speaking in English.

"If one of the sides will delay and create some obstacles in the way
of ratification and implementation, I think it could bear all the
responsibility for the negative consequences."

Nalbandian said the Armenian-Turkish thaw and the Nagorno-Karabakh
negotiations were "two separate processes." There is a "positive
dynamic", he said. "But to say that tomorrow or in one month’s time
or in a very short period of time we will come to the agreement,
I don’t think this is very serious."

NAGORNO-KARABAKH’S STATUS-QUO CANNOT BE PERPETUAL: SEMNEBY

Tert
Nov 2 2009
Armenia

Armenian-Turkish relations and the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict are two
separate issues, said EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus
Peter Semneby in his interview with Russian paper Vremya Novostey.

"These are two different conflicts and they don’t need to be linked
with one other. Otherwise the doors opened for normalization of
relations can be closed again," he added.

Besides, the diplomat said it is evident, however, that "any
development in one of these issues affects the entire atmosphere. It
is necessary to do so that these two issues have only positive impact
on each other."

Stating that the conflict with Armenia in many aspects limited Turkey’s
opportunities in the South Caucasus, Semneby expressed confidence
that establishment of relations between Armenia and Turkey will create
new opportunities for the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

"In a sitution where the Armenian leadership encounters several
problems at the same time, establishment of relations with Turkey
gives them the opportunty to fix their attention on the next,
more complicated, issues. I am sure that the Armenian leadership
realizes that the present status-quo of Nagorno-Karabakh cannot be
perpetual and it is necessary to create correct conditions so that
the leadership can also deal with Nagorno-Karabakh issues," the EU
special representative stated.

Touching upon concessions by both sides, Semneby said they are clearly
described in the Madrid Principles. "Naturally, the most complicated
problems are in the details, but in general, the Madrid document
describes resolutions, according to which concessions are going to
be made by both sides. The most complicated issues which refer to
Nagorno-Karabakh’s status are postponed for an indefinite time-period."

"Both sides have made quite a progress in discussing decision-making
mechanisms. However, numerous issues still remain unresolved, which,
I am sure will be possible to resolve if favourable conditions are
created," the European diplomat concluded.

GENOCIDE-MAKERS TO HAVE IT

news.am
Oct 30 2009
Armenia

Hunting Nazis has always required complex skills: a command of
international law, a precise sense of the logistics of the Holocaust,
a nose for archival discovery and the readiness to wear down shoes
in pursuit of a suspect, reads Times Online Oct. 29.

This rare breed seems to be close to extinction. Public interest is
waning and funding is very limited.

Mr Boere and John Demjanjuk (both over 90 now) will stand the trial
on a charge of mass killings. The trial of a concentration camp guard
Demjanjuk is due in Munich on November 30. Skeptics may wonder what
will be achieved if the two old men are put behind bars?

The answer is, "It is the pursuit of truth that counts, not the nature
of the punishment," maintains Roger Boyes.

According to Boyes (Times journalist), "It has never been more
essential to explain to a wider public the mechanics of mass murder:
how orders are given and interpreted, how a sense of duty can mutate
into killing someone. There is also a powerful moral obligation
to demonstrate that killers, in or out of uniform, should be held
responsible for their actions. These are fundamental lessons."

"Nazi hunters are not redundant. They are essential in stirring memory
and in setting civilization’s boundaries. That is why the trials are
important — and why reporters must sit through them," Boyes concludes.

Fascism felonies are condemned as crimes against humanity having no
time limitation. Adolf Hitler — the ideologist of fascism, before
lunching his sanguineous mission in Europe said: "Who remembers today
of Armenian Genocide?" trying to justify his atrocities against many
nations, including Jews.

Presently, many states have officially recognized Armenian Genocide
as crime against humanity. In some countries denial of Genocide is
being prosecuted.