Wednesday, July 22 2015 14:19

Ucom will preclude the monopolization process of the Armenian telecom market after Orange Armenia leaves, Orange Armenia CEO Fr5ancis Gelitber has told ArmInfo journalist.  
He has clarified why the monopolization will not happen - there are still 3 market players - Beeline, VivaCell MTS and, of course, Ucom, which is to buy 100% shares of Orange Armenia. Ucom is the guarantee for competitive capacity in the Armenian market.  

By Orange Group and Ucom Brand's preliminary arrangement, "Orange Armenia" will operate for 12 more months. The new owner will decide whether to carry out a rebranding or no, Francis Gelitber, the CEO at Orange Armenia, told during a July 22 press conference. To note, the press conference was convened by Orange Armenia to announce of the launch of negotiations with Ucom to sell the 100% of Orange Armenia's shares.  

Orange Armenia, 100% subsidiary of Orange Group, launched telecommunication and Internet services in Armenia on November 5, 2009. Since the start of its activities in Armenia Orange has made around 277 MEUR investments in Armenia (including 51 mln Euro contribution for the license) and now the company provides a full range of voice and data services in the cities and villages of Armenia, to more than 97% of the population.  About a year ago Ucom Company took up the license on providing mobile operator services. The company has even registered the "011" code. 

In 2013 Ucom acquired the permission to provide 4G tech mobile operator services. In 2016 the company is going to launch high-quality services through LTE. Ucom built an optical-fiber network and has been providing internet, TV and fixed telephony services through one channel. As of June 2015, the company had over 100 thsd subscribers and over 800 employees.  Cooperating with the largest global companies, Ucom has managed to gain stable positions on the Armenian telecommunication market.  

According to the Ranking of Retail and Service Outlets of Armenia by the Agency of Rating Marketing Information (ArmInfo), at the yearend of 2013 the loss of Orange Armenia totaled 3.8 billion AMD, and the accumulated loss - 12.4 billion AMD. At the yearend of 2013, the ROI and ROE of Orange Armenia amounted to negative 8% and negative 10%, respectively. As regards Ucom, its net profit at the yearend of 2013 amounted to 884.2 million AMD (almost 7-fold year- over-year growth (from the negative level). At the same time, Ucom's ROI and ROE made up 3.4% and 5.4%, respectively. Orange Armenia has been operating on the Armenian market since 5 November 2005, and Ucom was founded in 2007.