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’ Viva mobile phone, to make sure I have a working mobile at all times, but also had to keep the Armentel one, because that was the contact number printed on my business-cards, published booklettes and various other promotional materials I had at that point. Today, as I decided to travel down the tube (subway or metropoliten or whatever else it is called), a phone-call came to my Beeline number, while I was on the way between Republic and Yeritasardakan metro-stations, somewhere deep underground. Wow! That was a pleasant surprise. Back in the office, digging further down I came across with this Beeline announcement, that all 10 Metro-stations in Yerevan now have Beeline connectivity. On another pleasant note, David_Sand, a media layer, now working for Beeline, reports that 3G – the third generation of more advanced mobile network services, offering greater network capacity and data transmission capabilities able to deliver speeds up to 14.4Mbit/s on the downlink and 5.8Mbit/s on the uplink, are now available on Beeline network on the WCDMA range: tested – working everywhere in central Yerevan, on Baghramyan avenue, some places on Komitas and in Zeytun district. To take advantage of the service a 3G capable mobile device (phone, PDA) and willingness to experiment, as official information is still not available on the Beeline site. The launch of 3G connectivity is still in a testing stage, and prices are so far the same as for Beeline GPRS, but once the service is launched officially – the tarriffs will most likely change, I’d expect them to be much cheaper.
Adding to all of the above the internet connectivity services available on the Beeline fixed-line network: the Hi-line ADSL service in particular, which offers broadband connectivity to Armentel fixed-line subscribers for as little as 12,000 AMD ($40US) per month and you’ll have a happy Observer – finally seeing things moving in the right direction with Beeline and internet in Armenia in general.