“We are battling for Internet freedom in Armenia”

#SharedHostingTips #WebsiteBuilder #Armenia

The development of digital technologies has been transformative for many countries in the world, and Armenia is one of them. Since the government declared IT one of the key industries of the country, the country has been experiencing an IT Renaissance. To get a glimpse into everything Internet and shared hosting, as part of our “Shared Hosting Tips” view interview series, we’ve met with Grigori Saghyan, the CEO of Arminco.

Arminco is in some ways a legend in Armenia: established in 1992, it is the first Internet, TCP/IP connection provider in Armenia, as well as the 1st Armenian website. In 2007, the company decided to separate its services and create Internet.am, adding hosting and domain registration to its portfolio.

Armenia in numbers

Armenia is a country with a small population of around 3 million people. What makes the country interesting, however, is that it has a large diaspora of around 10 million people around the world, who to some extent take part in the economic life of the country: open businesses, use local services, and more. The national TLD is .am, although, with 3-3.5 thousand websites, it’s not the most popular choice. Many businesses, especially those working with foreign markets, still prefer to use TLDs such as .com, .org, etc. But the trend towards the .am domain is increasing significantly.

Regarding the .am hosting, Grigori tells a peculiar story. A few years ago, .am domain became quite popular in China. The reason behind this phenomenon was the significance and meaning of figures in Chinese culture, and the combination of figures in the .am TLD made it a popular choice in China.

Shared hosting is the main interest

From Arminco’s experience, the interest of the clients lies mainly in shared hosting. The company currently has around 3,000 shared hosting users. In the case of domain registration, the process is somewhat slow, although the usage of the Internet is growing. Every year, around 2000 domain names register, which is a result of the small population. Companies usually buy domains for themselves, but some of them, mainly software development companies, also buy domains for their clients. The average number of domains per client is up to 10.

Customer support for local population

Most of the population knows at least two languages (Armenian and Russian) and younger people also know English. So, although support in Armenian is welcomed and expected, it can also be done in Russian and English. Most companies, including Arminco, provide support in all three languages, and because of the multilingual population, this doesn’t bring additional expenses.

Pricing and payments

Pricing is very important for people, and they pay close attention to how much the service is, and what it includes. Arminco has different plans, with the cheapest starting at 1.5 euros and going up to 2 Euros/month. .am in itself is considered a relatively expensive domain name, but Grigori mentions that it’s expensive when bought from the resellers. When bought directly from them, it’s around $20/year, which is an acceptable average price around the world.

This being said, the quality of the services is also important, and people aren’t ready to give up on quality for the sake of lower prices. High-quality service is expected, and local language support is important.

Laws and regulations for the hosting market

When it comes to domains and hosting, there are no limits or government regulations in the country. This is a combination of companies fighting for Internet freedom and the desire of the government to grow the IT field. That’s why the law about hosting the data of citizens inside the country that’s present in many countries isn’t the case in Armenia. “We’ve had our servers abroad since 2014 because it’s cheaper and easier to manage. We have servers in Germany, as it’s safe and not too far. I think that laws and regulations about data kept in the territory of the country are not important for such a small country as Armenia.”

Website builders in Armenia: used or not so much?

The usage of website builders is starting to grow, as more and more businesses and individuals go online with their projects. However, Grigori believes that they should be advertised more because of their flexibility and accessibility, and they can be a good solution for many businesses. Internet.am, for example, is offering a website builder both as part of its hosting packages and as a separate product.

Wrapping up

Although small, Armenia is a growing hosting market, and as the country grows more and more digital, it has significant potential. Lack of government regulations and limitations make it easier for local and foreign companies to enter the market, creating healthy competition.