Communications in Iran
Photograph by jonas maaloeon Flickr.
Many small towns and Communications in Iran even some villages now have full Internet access. About 150,000 people are employed in the ICT sector, including around 20,000 in the software industry. Iran imports a Suddenlink Communications large part of its software.
Computers for home use became more affordable in the mid-1990s, and since then demand for access to Communications in Iran the Internet has increased rapidly. DCI maintains the network infrastructure, providing Internet access via the IRANPAK X.25 packet-switching network, which covers most major cities.
Given the recent developments of the industry, the objectives are very likely to be achieved. More than 23 million Iranians have access to the Internet Communications in Iran and over 45 million own mobile phones. Motherboard, keyboard, mouse, computer case, power supply, CPU, hard drive and recently printers are other components that are now manufactured locally. Among the leading domestic telecoms equipment manufacturers is the Iran Telephone Manufacturing Company (ITMC), which has licensing agreements with Siemens and Alcatel-Lucent of Communications in Iran France.
The study also predicts that the market will continue riding the wave of growth to hit $39-$40 billion in 2009. However, large retailers like Plug-Ins, Emax and Sharaf DG are also making their presence felt by capturing the remaining 40 percent.
With the completion of Communications in Iran this new network, Internet services in Iran is expected to improve dramatically. Iran’s IP-based national data network is being developed by Information Technology Company (ITC), which is also a TCI subsidiary. This happened simultanisouly with the launch of MTN Irancell, a private second carrier with foreign ownership.
The largest privately owned ISP is Parsnet, which serves only Tehran. ITMC is owned by TCI (45%), Industry Bank (35%) and Siemens (20%). Based on Note C of the general policies of the constitution s Article 44, Ministry of Communications and Information Technology announced that it will float the shares of affiliated companies such as Mobile Telecommunications Company in the stock market. Under the general policies of Article 44, telecom companies are categorized in four groups as follows: TCI s Infrastructure Telecom Company will be detached from it and it would continue its activities as a part of the ICT Ministry.
The Neda Rayaneh Institute (NRI) was the first private ISP in Iran. Domain names with the .ir suffix are assigned by the Institute for Studies in Theoretical Physics and Mathematics (IPM). The government aims to provide 10% of government and commercial services via the Internet by end-2008 and to equip every school with computers and Internet connections by the same date. Iran s electronic commerce will reach 10,000 billion rials ($1 billion) by March 2009. In 2004 the Majlis adopted the Electronic Commerce Law: According to the Electronic Journal on Information Systems in Developing Countries (EJISDC), the information and communications technology (ICT) sector had a 1.1-1.3% share of GDP in 2002.
The leading ISP with a provincial focus is Isfahan-based Irangate.net. In terms of mobile provision in 2004, however, Iran lagged all the countries mentioned above. Iran has a population of 70 million with some 56% of Iranians under the age of 25. Iran is among the first five countries which have had a growth rate of over 20 percent and the highest level of development in telecommunication. According to the Electronic Journal on Information Systems in Developing Countries (EJISDC), the information and communications technology (ICT) sector had a 1.1-1.3% share of GDP in 2002.
Iran’s telecommunications industry is almost entirely state-owned, dominated by the Telecommunication Company of Iran (TCI). International Development Ireland was selected as the consultant for the project in mid-2004.
About 150,000 people are employed in the ICT sector, including around 20,000 in the software industry. The government runs the broadcast media, which includes three national radio stations and two national television networks, as well as dozens of local radio and television stations. Mobile and smart phones make up 41 percent of the entire digital consumer market with sales of $10 billion expected in 2008.
Popular daily and weekly newspapers include Ettelaat, Kayhan, Resalat, Iran Daily and the Tehran Times (both are English-language papers). Since the 1970s, there have been a number of proposals for a state-owned communications satellite, called Zohreh (en:Venus) from 1993 onwards. Inadequate but currently being modernized and expanded with the goal of not only improving the efficiency and increasing the volume of the urban service but also bringing telephone service to several thousand villages, not presently connected. As a result of heavy investing in the telephone system since 1994, thousands of mobile cellular subscribers are being served; moreover, the technical level of the system has been raised by the installation of thousands of digital switches. Submarine fiber-optic cable to UAE with access to Fiber-Optic Link Around the Globe (FLAG); Trans Asia Europe (TAE) fiber-optic line runs from Azerbaijan through the northern portion of Iran to Turkmenistan with expansion to Georgia and Azerbaijan; HF radio and microwave radio relay to Turkey, Azerbaijan, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Syria, Kuwait, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan; satellite earth stations - 13 (9 Intelsat and 4 Inmarsat) (2007) In 1993 Iran became the second country in the Middle East to be connected to the Internet, and since then the government has made significant efforts to improve the nation s ICT infrastructure. The leading Data Communication Company of Iran (DCI) which belongs to Telecommunication Company of Iran (now privatized) and the Iranian Research Organization for Science and Technology (IROST) are two government bodies that act as ISPs. There are also plans for a technology park in the free-trade zone on Kish Island in the Persian Gulf, which already contains the necessary technological infrastructure. The government s drive to automate manual processes is expected to account for about 70% of demand for software development, but there are also some 15,000 private-sector factories that have software needs. The Middle East consumer electronics and technology sector amounts to a $37 billion high (2008), according to a study by the Dubai-based subsidiary of GfK-MEMRB Marketing Services.
Tech-savvy citizens use text messages to communicate with friends and browse the Internet — which the government controls in terms of access and speed — for a multiplicity of purposes. Currently eight Iranian companies are manufacturing monitors under licence of LG, Samsung, Hyundai, Benq, Tatung and CTX.
The digital consumer technology sector is expected to see retail sales in excess of $24 billion by the end of 2008. Iran’s domestic consumer electronic market, defined as including computing devices, mobile handsets and video audio and gaming products, was estimated at $7.3 billion in 2008, with 47% market share for computer hardware, 28% Audio/Video and 25% mobile phone (with growing demand for PDAs, smart phones and 3G handsets). Iran is manufacturing some computer components under license from international companies, predominantly in the area of monitors. In 2000 there were 252 radios, 158 television sets, 219 telephone lines, and 110 personal computers for every 1,000 residents.
DCI is the only ISP with a permit for supplying government agencies. Since the late 1990s the court has shut down many pro-reform newspapers and other periodicals.
The study also reveals the market structure by channel where, in Iran and the UAE, independent retailers still lead with 60-percent share in volume for product categories such as digital cameras, LCD televisions and mobile phones. The privatization and introduction of a second operator has created a significantly more competitive environment which has led to significant cost reductions for mobile owners and service benefits. In 2009, 51% of the shares of TCI was sold to Mobin Trust Consortium, a consortium which some media claimed it was affiliated with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, for the sum of $7.8 billion. Afghanistan · Armenia1 · Azerbaijan1 · Bahrain · Bangladesh · Bhutan · Brunei · Burma2 · Cambodia · People s Republic of China · Cyprus1 · East Timor3 · Egypt4 · Georgia4 · India · Indonesia · Iran · Iraq · Israel · Japan · Jordan · Kazakhstan4 · North Korea · South Korea · Kuwait · Kyrgyzstan · Laos · Lebanon · Malaysia · Maldives · Mongolia · Nepal · Oman · Pakistan · Philippines · Qatar · Russia4 · Saudi Arabia · Singapore · Sri Lanka · Syria · Tajikistan · Republic of China5 · Thailand · Turkey4 · Turkmenistan · United Arab Emirates · Uzbekistan · Vietnam · Yemen Abkhazia1 · Nagorno-Karabakh · Northern Cyprus · Palestine · South Ossetia1 · Aceh · Adjara1 · Akrotiri and Dhekelia · Altai · British Indian Ocean Territory · Buryatia · Christmas Island · Cocos (Keeling) Islands · Guangxi · Hong Kong · Inner Mongolia · Iraqi Kurdistan · Khakassia · Macau · Nakhchivan · Ningxia · Papua · Sakha Republic · Tibet · Tuva · West Papua · Xinjiang · .
Blogging is also immensely popular The press in Iran is privately owned and reflects a diversity of political and social views. A special court has authority to monitor the print media and may suspend publication or revoke the licenses of papers or journals that a jury finds guilty of publishing antireligious material, slander, or information detrimental to the national interest.
Previously serviced by TCI’s Public Switch Telephone Network, the ISPs have recently been provided with modern data line capacity through a national IP-based network. Most Iranian newspapers are published in Persian, but newspapers in English and other languages also exist.
Fixed-line penetration in 2004 was relatively well-developed by regional standards, standing at 22 lines per 100 people, higher than Egypt with 14 and Saudi Arabia with 15, although behind the UAE with 27. This network currently covers 210 Iranian cities and has 60,000 high-speed ports to meet the needs of its end users such as business and ISPs (2009). ADSL in Iran appeared in 2004. Full Internet service is available in all major cities and it is very rapidly increasing.
The most widely circulated periodicals are based in Tehrān. In 2006, the Iranian telecom industry s revenues were estimated at $1.2 billion. The Fourth Five Year Economic Development Plan has proposed the following key benchmarks for 2010: 36 million fixed lines; 50% penetration rate for mobile phones; establishment of reliable rural ICT connections and 30 million internet users.
In 1998, the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications (renamed the Ministry of Information & Communication Technology) began selling Internet accounts to the general public. According to the EJISDC, around 95% of the output of the domestic industry is bespoke development (including translation/adaptation from foreign source) —as opposed to product work—meaning export possibilities are low. Although there are no established clusters in Tehran, a major facility, the Tehran Software and Information Technology Park, is planned.
