ArmInfo. As part of the internet transit agreement between Telecom Arenia OJSC (Team Telecom Armenia) and Azertelecom OJSC, Azerbaijan will gain access to a 100 Gbps bandwidth channel. This was reported by Telecom Armenia employees in response to questions posted on the Facebook page of David Ananyan, a member of the Wings of Unity party and former Chairman of the State Revenue Committee of Armenia.
The politician recalled that on his page, he raised a number of issues related to bandwidth, border connection points, possible routing of Armenian traffic, security assessment, and control mechanisms. "After the publication, the relevant Telecom Armenia employees contacted me and provided clarifications, which I consider important to publicize. They stated that the Azerbaijani side will have access to a 100 Gbps communications channel. This moves the discussion from general formulations to more specific technical parameters," the former head of the State Revenue Committee noted.
Speaking about approvals from government agencies, Ananyan noted that Telecom Armenia employees reiterated that the company operates within the framework of Armenian legislation and industry-regulating requirements, cooperating with all relevant agencies and ensuring all necessary approvals. According to the Wings of Unity party member, this response is important because, in the case of critical infrastructure of national importance, it would be desirable for authorized government agencies to also present their position and assessment to the public, if necessary.
"Regarding traffic and data security, company representatives explained that to provide transit services, operators' networks must be physically connected, which is achieved at the equipment and cable infrastructure level. The service is provided point-to-point using DWDM technology (dense wavelength division multiplexing - ed.). According to company representatives, DWDM technology itself does not provide access to another operator's networks or data, and Telecom Armenia's network data is not accessible to the Azerbaijani operator. Data flow protection, according to the company, is ensured by separate cybersecurity mechanisms that comply with international standards and Armenian legislation," Ananyan noted.
The company, he added, also addressed the issue of routing Armenian traffic through Azerbaijani territory. As the former head of the State Revenue Committee noted, one of the company's most important clarifications is that at the moment, this is simply an alternative option for the Armenian side. Thus, as Ananyan explained, according to the company's employees, Telecom Armenia could theoretically also use Azerbaijani infrastructure, but such use is not currently envisaged. "That is, according to the public clarification provided, routing Armenian end user traffic through Azerbaijani territory is not currently planned," the politician noted.
Furthermore, Ananyan noted, according to the company, one connection is planned with Azerbaijan and Nakhichevan. He noted that this is also an important clarification, as previous public announcements lacked details about border connection points or directions. "One cannot help but appreciate Telecom Armenia's response to publicly raised questions and its attempt to provide technical and security clarifications. This is precisely the approach discussed in the previous post: in matters of critical infrastructure, what is needed is not emotional outcry, but clarification, controllability, technical security, and public reporting," the politician concluded.
As a reminder, on June 22, Team Telecom Armenia and Azertelecom signed a bilateral agreement providing for the transmission and supply of internet transit through the two countries on a commercial basis. Under the agreement, Telecom Armenia, as the region's leading transit operator, expands the number of countries and geography of international internet traffic, providing transit through its own infrastructure to Azerbaijan.
