WB to allocate $1mln to Armenia for internet access program

YEREVAN, February 23. /ARKA/. The World Bank (WB) will allocate $1mln to Armenia for preparing an Internet access program.

Bagrat Yengibaryan, Director of the Enterprise Incubator Foundation (EIF) reported that the RA Ministry of Economy and the WB are to sign a relevant agreement within a week, with the EIF to elaborate the program.

The core of the program is the approaches and models to be elaborated in the country to ensure the cooperation between the government and private sectors to improve Internet access, reduce prices and upgrade the quality, Yengibaryan said.

He pointed out that, despite an essential fall in the cost and much higher quality of Internet services, they are still at an unsatisfactory level.

Among the causes are mismanagement and Armenia’s geographical location, because of which very few cables can run through Armenia, Yengibaryan said.

He pointed out that the RA Ministry of Economy is taking serious steps. Specifically, it has elaborated an IT development strategy placing emphasis not only on the IT development, but also on the development of information community.

The concept provides for specific programs, including the ones of Internet access improvement and computerization.

Hovik Musaelyan, CEO, Synopsys Armenia, pointed out unsatisfactory Internet access in Armenia, which hinders the development of Armenian IT companies especially amid the global crisis.

He pointed out that the major obstacle is the quality of Internet services rather than their cost, which often endangers the implementation of projects. P.T. –0--