Freedom House ranks Armenia as country with ‘free internet’

Internet freedom in Armenia improved during the coverage period, largely due to the lifting of restrictions on the free flow of information that the government implemented in the previous coverage period during to the armed conflict between ethnic Armenian and Azerbaijani forces in Nagorno-Karabakh, the Freedom House said in its annual Freedom on the Net 2022 report.

YEREVAN, November 3, /ARKA/. Internet freedom in Armenia improved during the coverage period, largely due to the lifting of restrictions on the free flow of information that the government implemented in the previous coverage period during to the armed conflict between ethnic Armenian and Azerbaijani forces in Nagorno-Karabakh, the Freedom House said in its annual Freedom on the Net 2022 report.

Armenia and its neighbor Georgia are ranked by the international human rights organization as countries with "free Internet."

Armenia has scored 74 points and Georgia 78. Other regional countries- Iran (16 points), Russia (23) and Turkey (32) are among the countries with "not free Internet". A total of 70 countries are listed in the report.

According to the report, media outlets faced less significant cyberattacks than they did in the previous coverage period.

According to the report, Internet access is widespread in Armenia’s capital, Yerevan, and is expanding throughout the country. The reliability and speed of internet connections across Armenia has generally improved in recent years. In Yerevan, public Wi-Fi is widely available, while other cities in Armenia have more limited access to Wi-Fi in public places.

According to the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), in 2021 Armenia had a fixed broadband penetration rate of 16.7 percent and a mobile broadband penetration rate of 95.8 percent.

According to World Bank survey data from 2020, 96 percent of households in Armenia had access to the internet. 

Fourth-generation-plus (4G+) technology for mobile networks now cover 100 percent of settlements, per 2020 data from the Public Services Regulatory Commission of the Republic Of Armenia.

Four internet service providers (ISPs) maintain the fiber-optic cable backbone networks that connect to the international internet via the Republic of Georgia. There is also a limited fiber-optic connection through Iran, which mostly serves as a backup. 

In February 2019, the Armenian ISP Ucom signed a memorandum of understanding with ISPs in Iran and Qatar to build an internet transit link between the Gulf states and Europe through Armenia. -0-