Stop! Or My Government will Shoot!
Yesterday, on my way back from work, I turned the car radio on. The reporter of the Armenian news bulletin was announcing that there actually were Armenians in the WTC Twin Towers when they collapsed. He added that the confirmation came with the fact that there were no Armenian citizens among them but they were diasporan Armenians (presumably citizens of the USA.)
I usually don't listen to the news, not on the radio anyway. The internet would be my main (if not the only) source of news/information. I found it interesting... So I didn't deprive the reporter from telling me more news...
Apparently he was done with the international news and moved to the local ones. The first thing he said was that the telecommunications minister of Armenia is threatening ArmenTel (the only telephone company in Armenia that has the right to monopolise communication and communication systems in Armenia for 10 years, which is believed to end in 2002 or 2003) to take away it's license. He said that the minister is also making it clear that ArmenTel's plans on converting the unlimited local call telephone system in Armenia into a pay-per-minute one is not approved by them (the govenment) and they will not let it happen. He added that the minister had said that the company did not comply to the license agreement and it's terms. The greek telephone company was supposed to invest huge figures in the effort to renew the old telephone system. One of the things they were supposed to accomplish was converting all of the network in Armenia from analog to digital, which was done partially (the unofficial percent is 40% of the total network.) The minister said that the people can't afford to pay for the telephone for another year or two. Especially now that the network is not even working properly, which is partially due to the old cables and systems that were supposed to be changed.
A friend of mine is actually working in ArmenTel's Sevan branch, who told me that all that ArmenTel did (at their branch office) so far was installing 3 or 4 computers and connecting them together in a network, simply to facilitate the work of the accountants in collecting the monthly fee of the telephones (which is, by the way, 900 AMD, where 550 AMD is about $1) and the international call bills. The rest of the network is the old Soviet one, that's true for even parts of Yerevan.
The Minister added that ArmenTel can file to international courts if it doesn't like the government's decisions and that they are confident that any court would be on their side.
It is also noteworthy that up till this report no government-official had acknowledged that ArmenTel failed to comply to the license agreement. There was no confrontation of any kind, which was a bit scary. Since the Armenians do not know how to organize a protest (due to Soviet mentality.) A protest would guarantee you citizenship (and a free ride) to siberia about 12 years ago. If it wasn't for this step that the communications minister took, there would have been no way to stop ArmenTel from it's blood-sucking plan. I'm personally glad that the government is taking a stand and the old days of pampering each other is over! Making statements like this to the public is a clear cut evidence that the government (or better say the minister of communications personally) is not interested in a compromise for his silence, which is believed to be the main reason for a very sloppy license in the first place.
Also, since the government is promoting a high-tech field boost in the country. It is believed, though unofficially, that the goverment is convinced that ArmenTel had a very important role in helping spread the use of the Internet (and thus computers, in general) by providing affordable internet connectivity to the people. Not to mention that the digital lines (fiber optic lines) that ArmenTel was supposed to have installed by now should have made the whole internet experience allot different than it is right now, in terms of speed. The government is supposedly convinced that to realize such conditions within a reasonable time was absolutly necessary for helping push the technological advancements in the country. The minister, in his report, mentioned that the internet prices are nothing even close to reasonable.
From now on, I should be listening to the radio more often, I guess...
Yesterday, on my way back from work, I turned the car radio on. The reporter of the Armenian news bulletin was announcing that there actually were Armenians in the WTC Twin Towers when they collapsed. He added that the confirmation came with the fact that there were no Armenian citizens among them but they were diasporan Armenians (presumably citizens of the USA.)
I usually don't listen to the news, not on the radio anyway. The internet would be my main (if not the only) source of news/information. I found it interesting... So I didn't deprive the reporter from telling me more news...
Apparently he was done with the international news and moved to the local ones. The first thing he said was that the telecommunications minister of Armenia is threatening ArmenTel (the only telephone company in Armenia that has the right to monopolise communication and communication systems in Armenia for 10 years, which is believed to end in 2002 or 2003) to take away it's license. He said that the minister is also making it clear that ArmenTel's plans on converting the unlimited local call telephone system in Armenia into a pay-per-minute one is not approved by them (the govenment) and they will not let it happen. He added that the minister had said that the company did not comply to the license agreement and it's terms. The greek telephone company was supposed to invest huge figures in the effort to renew the old telephone system. One of the things they were supposed to accomplish was converting all of the network in Armenia from analog to digital, which was done partially (the unofficial percent is 40% of the total network.) The minister said that the people can't afford to pay for the telephone for another year or two. Especially now that the network is not even working properly, which is partially due to the old cables and systems that were supposed to be changed.
A friend of mine is actually working in ArmenTel's Sevan branch, who told me that all that ArmenTel did (at their branch office) so far was installing 3 or 4 computers and connecting them together in a network, simply to facilitate the work of the accountants in collecting the monthly fee of the telephones (which is, by the way, 900 AMD, where 550 AMD is about $1) and the international call bills. The rest of the network is the old Soviet one, that's true for even parts of Yerevan.
The Minister added that ArmenTel can file to international courts if it doesn't like the government's decisions and that they are confident that any court would be on their side.
It is also noteworthy that up till this report no government-official had acknowledged that ArmenTel failed to comply to the license agreement. There was no confrontation of any kind, which was a bit scary. Since the Armenians do not know how to organize a protest (due to Soviet mentality.) A protest would guarantee you citizenship (and a free ride) to siberia about 12 years ago. If it wasn't for this step that the communications minister took, there would have been no way to stop ArmenTel from it's blood-sucking plan. I'm personally glad that the government is taking a stand and the old days of pampering each other is over! Making statements like this to the public is a clear cut evidence that the government (or better say the minister of communications personally) is not interested in a compromise for his silence, which is believed to be the main reason for a very sloppy license in the first place.
Also, since the government is promoting a high-tech field boost in the country. It is believed, though unofficially, that the goverment is convinced that ArmenTel had a very important role in helping spread the use of the Internet (and thus computers, in general) by providing affordable internet connectivity to the people. Not to mention that the digital lines (fiber optic lines) that ArmenTel was supposed to have installed by now should have made the whole internet experience allot different than it is right now, in terms of speed. The government is supposedly convinced that to realize such conditions within a reasonable time was absolutly necessary for helping push the technological advancements in the country. The minister, in his report, mentioned that the internet prices are nothing even close to reasonable.
From now on, I should be listening to the radio more often, I guess...
posted by Ashod at 12:25 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home