SEVAN, October 30. /ARKA/. Ralf Yirikian, director general of VivaCell-MTS, told journalists on Thursday that the mobile telecommunication operator has launched 3G network in 47 cities of Armenia.

He said the company has completed another phase of introduction 3G network in Armenia. Now the network is available in all the provinces of the country.

Yirikian said that taking into account high demand for third-generation services, the company is not only expanding its network and widening the range of services, but also increasing the number of stations necessary for a high-quality access.

The company has also ensured interconnect of the network with Armenia’s two other telecommunication operators.

“In April, when we launched services in Gyumri, we promised to keep widening the network,” the VivaCell-MTS director general said.

“Now the second stage is over, and Yerevan and 47 cities in ten provinces enjoy the network.” Yirikian said that the company would keep investing in enhancement of availability of these technologies.

“Today our network is available for 64.4 to 64.5% of the country population, and we intend to launch the third stage of development and introduction of the network,” he said adding that the third stage targets villages.

The director general said that recently the company was vigorously developing the network and modernizing the system.

This work triggered certain technical difficulties, and the company apologizes to its customers for any inconvenience caused.

MTS Vise-President Oleg Raspopov, speaking at the same news conference in Sevan, called the launch of the second stage of the program successful. “This is a high-quality and up-to-world-standards network.

We are happy about it, congratulating the company’s administration and hope that the services of third-generation network will be highly demanded.” The 3G network’s ability was demonstrated to journalists on site, in Sevan.

VivaCell-MTS put 3G services in commercial exploitation in Armenia on April 17, ensuring the technology of mobile broadband access to Internet. Initially, the network was available in three cities - Yerevan, Gyumri and Vanadzor.

VivaCell-MTS (К- Telecom cjsc) is the leading mobile telecommunication operator in Armenia. The company provides a wide range of voice-connection and data-transfer services. The company provides its services all over the country and enjoys the GSM 900/1800 licenses valid until 2019.

Mobile TeleSystems ojsc, the largest mobile telecommunication operator in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States, holds 80% of VivaCell-MTS, and the remaining 20% belong to Lebanese Fattouch Group. --0--