Agreement Signed on Reducing Roaming Charges in Artsakh

On September 6, an agreement was signed between the RA Public Services Regulatory Commission, the Artsakh Public Services and Economic Competition Regulatory Commission, and the telecommunications companies "VEON Armenia", "MTS Armenia", "Artsakh Telecom", and "Ucom" regarding interconnection fees and roaming service tariffs.

The agreement stipulates that from January 1, 2020, the roaming service tariffs provided by operators in Artsakh and Armenia will be reduced on a semi-annual basis until January 1, 2021.

Starting January 1, 2020, outgoing call rates are expected to decrease by approximately 25%, with the reduction potentially reaching up to 30% during this period. Incoming call charges will drop by around 40%, later reaching up to 45%. Data transmission and internet access fees will be reduced by about 50%, eventually reaching up to 65%. Short SMS rates are set to decrease by approximately 65%, moving towards a reduction of up to 75%.

It is also worth noting that as of August 1 of this year, outgoing and incoming calls have already been reduced by "Veon Armenia" and "Ucom" companies, where the outgoing call rate has changed from 45 AMD to 38 AMD, and incoming call rates from 45 AMD to 25 AMD. The SMS charge has also been adjusted, decreasing from 60 AMD to 40 AMD. Furthermore, the aforementioned reduced rates have already been in effect for subscribers of "MTS Armenia" since August 1.