Armenian mobile services market edged closer to full saturation in 2009, with nearly every working adult in the country of 3.2 million people having one or more mobile phones, and the number of mobile subscribers passing the 2,5 million mark. While the mobile operators say that there is still a lot of room to grow and compete, the question is – how exactly that competition will take place, and will the customers and the telecom sector benefit from the fight for market or otherwise, PanArmenian.net writes.
The number of Vivacell-MTS subscribers grew 46 percent in 2008 compared to the previous year, and Beeline registered growth of 23 percent. The numbers tumbled in 2009, with Vivacell-MTS growing as little as 2.4 percent, and Beeline apparently losing some customers, even if it is hard to tell for sure as the company has moved to a new system of counting subscribers. Hence, according to the latest data available by the end of 2009, Vivacell-MTS was the unchallenged market leader with 2 million 70 thousand subscribers, while Beeline followed by 502 thousand subscribers (latest Beeline data available for the 3rd quarter of 2009). Continue reading
It seems the days, when I would remember Armentel (now rebranded as Beeline), only with curses and complaints are over. As a very mobile person (many think – too much), I carry two mobile phones with me at all times – this is a reminder of not-so-distant past, when Armentel mobile connection was so bad, that I had to buy a ‘backup’ 
