Yerevan /Mediamax/. Interview of the Head of France Telecom’s (Orange brand) International Business Department## in Europe and Eurasia Jean Michel Serre to Mediamax and Banks.am

France Telecom Telecommunication Company, which functions under Orange brand, entered the short-list of companies, claiming to gain a license of the third mobile connection operator in Armenia. Besides France Telecom, Swedish Tele2 operator and Blackrock Communications Company also claim to gain the license. It is expected that the winner of the tender will become known in December, 2008.

France Telecom works in countries of Western and Eastern Europe, Africa, Asia and the USA, providing services of mobile and fixed telephony, broadband internet access (BIA), digital television, etc. The company has 110mln mobile connection subscribers, 46mln fixed connection subscribers and 13mln BIA subscribers all over the world.

- What attracted you in the telecommunication market of Armenia?

- Armenia demonstrates stable growth, the country has a high level of educated population and your country, undoubtedly, has future. Besides, Armenia has close relations with a number of other countries. Armenia’s population, we think, is inclined to use new technologies, and we hope it will give the necessary credit to what we can implement here.

When we enter a new country, we remain in it for a long time and try to assist its development, implementation of new technologies. We can become not only a financial, but an industrial partner for Armenia. For instance, in Romania, Moldavia, Slovakia and Poland we were there, when the development of the telecommunication sector was just initiating.

- They believe that the Armenian market is almost saturated by the two operators, which already function here - Beeline and MTS-VivaCell.

- We believe that the telecommunication sector in Armenia possesses potential for development. This concerns the increase of subscriber number, but, mainly, provision of new services.

Armenia is yet far from full saturation by new services, and we believe that in the course of the nearest two years the situation will change and the Armenian telecommunication sector will be significantly different, as compared to the one you have today. Our international experience evidences that.

- What new products do you intend to implement in Armenia if you win in the tender?

- First of all, that will be quality mobile connection with broadband internet access. Our aim is to secure the best quality of services and simplicity of their use. All the services we plan to introduce will be based on the leading technologies, elaborated by 4000 of our experts in Orange-labs, located in different countries.

- Your Company also provides fixed telephony services. Do you plan to also become a fixed connection operator in Armenia?

- In shortest periods of time we are going to study the process of mobile telephony development in Armenia, after which, just as we have done in Romania, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Poland and Moldova, we will also study the prospects for fixed telephony development.

- If you win in the tender, what volume of investment are you going to realize in Armenia?

- We will realize the necessary volume of investments to secure best quality mobile connection. The exact volume of investments is not defined yet, but I can state that in Eastern Europe countries we have realized the necessary volume of investments to become the leader of the markets.

The total volume of investments, realized in 2007 by France Telecom in all the countries, where we are present, made about 7bln euro (which makes about 30% of our total gains), 900mln of which were directed to research and development.