Yerevan /Mediamax/. “ArmenTel” Company (Beeline brand) announced today the testing-commercial launch## of the service of third generation (3G) mobile connection in Yerevan.

Mediamax reports that, speaking at a news conference in Yerevan today, Chief Executive Officer of “ArmenTel” Nacho Velichkov stated that Beeline considers 3G an important step along the path of developing convergent services - mobile and fixed connection, internet access, value added services.

“After the launch of our Beeline brand, people expect a lot from us, and we take consistent steps to improve our service and implement new services and products. The launch of 3G will allow us providing more various services”, Nacho Velichkov stated.

The Director of Beeline on Operations Alexander Birman stated that after the launch of 3G, the subscribers of the Company will be able to make video-calls. Another advantage of the new technology is the opportunity to use mobile internet with the speed, which exceeds GPRS speed for 20 times.

The commercial exploitation of 3G will start in about 1.5 months.

Director of “ArmenTel” on Mobile Business Gennady Kalgashkin stated that many subscribers of the Company are already actively using the opportunities of 3G. “I hope that the suppliers of cell phones will pay attention to the launch of 3G, and more cell phones, which support this service, will appear in the stores”, he noted.

Gennady Kalgashkin stated that it is yet early talking about tariffs for 3G services. What concerns the coverage, the 3G network is so far available only in regions of Yerevan, where business-centers are located and there are many buildings.

Alexander Birman stated that simultaneously with the introduction of 3G, “ArmenTel” is concluding the project on substituting the old stations of its mobile connection in Yerevan with new Ericsson stations. According to him, the project will be concluded in early July, and then “the transition from GSM network to 3G network will proceed with absolutely no effect on our subscribers”.

Talking about Beeline investments in Armenia, Nacho Velichkov stated that special attention is paid to the investments in the network and the infrastructure, which are meant to secure provision of convergent services.