The increase in speed and decrease in prices of the internet connection in Armenia in the last two years happened so quickly that it seems we ourselves haven’t managed to realize it. But the changes are truly revolutionary, such as from the point of view of viewing online video content.
YouTube provides analytics, which allow us to find out the average download speed of videos, based on internet connection provider, city, country, and the global average.
Armenia has always been behind the average speed worldwide. In May 2010, for instance, the average internet connection speed in Armenia on YouTube was 890 Kbps, while the global average was four times as much at 3490 Kbps.
In April 2011, Armenia was behind the world by about three times, maintaining a speed of 1444 Kbps compared to the global average of 4396 Kbps. At the end of March 2012, however, Armenia’s internet connection speed had nearly approached the global average: 3.3 Mbps compared to the global average of 5.4 Mbps.
This, however changed drastically at the start of 2013. The internet connection speed in Armenia on YouTube servers is 7.7 Mbps, while the global average is lower, at 6.94 Mbps.
ISP (the bar highlighted in yellow) is the average speed of my internet provider.
According to the Google Transparency Report, there’s been a sharp increase in the number of visits to YouTube from Armenia: during the second half of 2012, traffic to this video-sharing platform effectively doubled.
Taking into consideration that major internet providers have begun to actively get into the regions (currently, the average connection speed of Vanadzor’s local internet providers is 1.9 Mbps and Gyumri’s is 1.63 Mbps), and that mobile and DSL connections are already actively in use, the rapid rise in connection speed and competition can be expected here as well.
This increase in speed and the public’s interest in watching videos online allow us to expect qualitative changes — related to developing online television and alternative video journalism in Armenia.
Samvel Martirosyan
The views expressed in the column are those of the author's and do not necessarily reflect the views of Media.am.
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