UCOM to attract financing from different sources to acquire rival telecom operator
11.02.2020,
15:47
Armenian telecommunications company Ucom will attract financing from different sources to acquire Veon Armenia (trading as Beeline in Armenia) telecom operator, co-founder and CEO of Ucom Hayk Yesayan told a press briefing today.
YEREVAN, February 11. /ARKA. Armenian telecommunications company Ucom will attract financing from different sources to acquire Veon Armenia (trading as Beeline in Armenia) telecom operator, co-founder and CEO of Ucom Hayk Yesayan told a press briefing today. He declined to disclose all the sources.
In 2019 December, Veon Armenia asked for the Public Services Regulatory Commission's permission to sell its shares to Ucom. Later, both companies officially confirmed they were renegotiating a possible deal.
According to him, the acquisition will improve the quality of services, as well as expand Ucom's network in the country. "This deal can be described as a consolidation or an acquisition, but it will definitely benefit both the state and subscribers, since we intend to put emphasis on human capital and technological development," Yesayan said.
Yesayan said taking into account the potential of both companies, their human capital and the absence of new subscribers, basic services can be provided by one company, while the funds that both companies spend on the purchase of infrastructure equipment, could be chandelled into the introduction of new technologies.
"The field of mobile services is the only one, where prices have not risen over the last 10 years and as a result there are problems with investing in technical equipment," Yesayan said.
Yesayan also said that Armenia's market is not ready yet for the introduction of 5G technologies not only because of the absence of corresponding fiber-optic network , but also because the market is not ready for new technologies.
'If there is no demand, it is too early to talk about the need to introduce such services in the next 3-5 years," Yesayan told reporters.
Today, there are three mobile operators in the Armenian mobile communications market - Ucom, Veon Armenia and Viva-MTS.
The Armenian company Ucom (Universal Communications) was founded in 2007. It provides a full range of services: high-speed symmetric Internet, IP-television and digital telephony. –0--
In 2019 December, Veon Armenia asked for the Public Services Regulatory Commission's permission to sell its shares to Ucom. Later, both companies officially confirmed they were renegotiating a possible deal.
According to him, the acquisition will improve the quality of services, as well as expand Ucom's network in the country. "This deal can be described as a consolidation or an acquisition, but it will definitely benefit both the state and subscribers, since we intend to put emphasis on human capital and technological development," Yesayan said.
Yesayan said taking into account the potential of both companies, their human capital and the absence of new subscribers, basic services can be provided by one company, while the funds that both companies spend on the purchase of infrastructure equipment, could be chandelled into the introduction of new technologies.
According to him, today Viber, WatsApp, Facebook and other applications are used quite actively instead of voice services and, accordingly, the revenue of telecom operators has significantly decreased.
Yesayan also said that Armenia's market is not ready yet for the introduction of 5G technologies not only because of the absence of corresponding fiber-optic network , but also because the market is not ready for new technologies.
'If there is no demand, it is too early to talk about the need to introduce such services in the next 3-5 years," Yesayan told reporters.
Today, there are three mobile operators in the Armenian mobile communications market - Ucom, Veon Armenia and Viva-MTS.
The Armenian company Ucom (Universal Communications) was founded in 2007. It provides a full range of services: high-speed symmetric Internet, IP-television and digital telephony. –0--
