Rostelecom: In five years number of internet users in Armenia has grown by 50-60 times

In the last five years the number of internet users in Armenia has grown by 50-60 times, CEO of GNC- ALFA (subsidiary of Rostelecom) Hayk Faramanyan told journalists on Saturday.

He said that the number of broadband internet users has grown to 350,000-400,000, with the internet usage having amounted to 60- 70 GB.

"The growth was due mostly to the regions. So, today they have almost half of all usage. The presence of big international operators has boosted competition and has pushed down the prices," Faramanyan said.

He said that the quality of corporate internet in Armenia is much higher than in Georgia, Azerbaijan, Iran and Turkey.

"The point is that the local operators are very aggressive in their investment policies. Rostelecom's investment program alone has created over 1,000 jobs since late 2012. We have laid a fiber cable to the border of Nagorno-Karabakh, thereby allowing the local operator, Karabakh Telecom, to build its own network.  In the last two years the number of internet users in Nagorno- Karabakh has grown by 40-50%, while the prices have dropped," Faramanyan said.

Rostelecom bought 75%-1 stake in GNC-ALFA for $2.5mln in Feb 2012.