Communications in Iran
Iran's telecommunications industry is almost entirely state-owned, dominated by the Telecommunication Company of Iran (TCI). 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.[2] Iran had more than 1 mobile phone per inhabitant by 2012.[5]
Iran has a population of 80 million with some 56% of Iranians under the age of 25.[2] In 2008, there were more than 52,000 rural offices, providing Telecom services to the villages across the country. The number of fixed telephone lines is above 24 million, with penetration factor of 33.66%. In 2012, there were 43 million internet users in Iran, making the country first in the Middle East in terms of number.[6][7][8] As of 2020, 70 million Iranians are using high-speed mobile internet.[citation needed]
Iran is among the first five countries which have had a growth rate of over 20 percent and the highest level of development in telecommunications.[9] Iran has been awarded the UNESCO special certificate for providing telecommunication services to rural areas. By the end of 2009, Iran's telecommunications market was the fourth-largest market in the region at $9.2 billion and is expected to grow to $12.9 billion by 2014 at a CAGR of 6.9 percent.[10]
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. About 150,000 people are employed in the ICT sector, including around 20,000 in the software industry.[11] There were 1,200 registered information technology (IT) companies in 2002, 200 of which were involved in software development. Software exports stood around $50 million in 2008.[12] Between 2009 and 2020 the Telecommunications market more than doubled.[13]
Overview
[edit]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. In 2000 there were 252 radios, 158 television sets, 219 telephone lines, and 110 personal computers for every 1,000 residents. Computers for home use became more affordable in the mid-1990s, and since then demand for access to the Internet has increased rapidly. In 1998, the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications (renamed the Ministry of Information & Communication Technology) began selling Internet accounts to the general public. In 2006, the Iranian telecom industry's revenues were estimated at $1.2 billion.[14] By the end of 2009, Iran's telecommunications market was the fourth-largest market in the region at $9.2 billion and is expected to grow to $12.9 billion by 2014 at a CAGR of 6.9 percent.[10]
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. Given the recent developments of the industry, the objectives are very likely to be achieved.[8]
According to one report,[15] Iran has seen above average growth, specially in mobile subscriber numbers. Mobile data services are available but account for a small proportion of total data consumption in 2014. Some telecom parameters of 2012 & 2014 are as below:
| Sector | 2012 | 2014 |
|---|---|---|
| Broadband | 3.1 | 4.5 |
| Fixed-line telephony | 28.8 | 29.3 |
| Mobile phone | 58.2 | 61.2 |
More than 23 million Iranians have access to the Internet and over 45 million own mobile phones (2009/10). 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. Blogging is also immensely popular.[16]
| 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 est. | 2007 est. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Telephone main lines ('000) | 12,888 | 15,341 | 16,342 | 18,985 | 19,934 | 20,300 |
| Telephone main lines (per 100 population) | 19.1 | 22.6 | 23.8 | 27.3 | 28.4 | 28.6 |
| Mobile subscribers ('000) | 2,410 | 3,449 | 4,271 | 7,222 | 7,583 | 17,799 |
| Mobile subscribers (per 100 population) | 3.6 | 5.1 | 6.2 | 10.4 | 10.8 | 25.1 |
| Internet users ('000) | 3,168 | 4,800 | 5,500 | 7,000 | 7,350 | 7,718 |
| Internet users (per 100 population) | 4.7 | 7.1 | 8.0 | 10.1 | 10.5 | 10.9 |
| Personal computers (stock per 1,000 population) | 75 | 91 | 105 | 105 | 110 | 116 |
| Item | Price (US $) |
|---|---|
| Telephone, charge per local call from home, 3 mins (av) | 0.01 |
| Personal computer, 512 MB RAM (av) | 1,326 |
| Sector | Estimated $ Value |
|---|---|
| Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (and affiliated agencies) | 80.1 million |
| National Center for Cyberspace | 1.2 million |
| Iran Space Agency | 4.6 million |
| NIN and telecom infrastructure | 190 million |
| Radio transmissions/ creating competitive markets | 120 million |
| E-Government/e-Content for NIN | 80 million |
| Infrastructure/ major cyberspace projects | 26.5 million |
| Computer game development | 0.9 million |
Press
[edit]The press in Iran is privately and government 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 anti-religious material, slander, or information detrimental to the national interest. Since the late 1990s the court has shut down many pro-reform newspapers and other periodicals. Most Iranian newspapers are published in Persian, but newspapers in English and other languages also exist. The most widely circulated periodicals are based in Tehrān. Popular daily and weekly newspapers include Ettelaat, Kayhan, Resalat, Iran Daily and the Tehran Times (Iran Daily and Tehran Times are both English-language papers).[20]
Satellite
[edit]Since the 1970s, there have been a number of proposals for a state-owned communications satellite, called Zohreh (en:Venus) from 1993 onwards.[21][22] The planned satellite would have similar capabilities to a commercially produced Western satellite, while such capabilities are already provided through leases owned by the Iranian telecommunications sector. An agreement was signed between Iran and Russia in 2005 to develop the satellite with a planned launch date of 2007,[23] but the launch has been postponed until at least 2009, set to follow actual construction of the satellite.[24]
Telephone
[edit]The telephone system is inadequate but 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 that are not connected now.[7]
Domestic
[edit]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.
Iran's telecommunication network enjoys the highest growth rate in the Middle East. One of the indicators that clearly illustrates this growth rate is the increase in the number of installed main lines. In 1978 there were only about 850,000 fixed lines installed in Iran. This number rose to about 1,767,000 by 1986 and to about 2,380,000 by 1989. One of the objectives of the first five-year development plan (1989–1994) for the telecommunication sector was to add one million new fixed lines to the network. However, due to the establishment and expansion of many low-capacity and high-capacity exchanges, the actual growth rate that was achieved was considerably higher. In fact more than 3.1 million new main lines were installed during the period of the first five-year plan. Four million new lines were expected to be added by the end of the second five-year plan (1994–1999), which would increase the number of installed main lines to about 9,510,000 fixed lines. Iran's telecom market, which generated an estimated $9.1 billion in 2010 (of which 2/3 from "voice" mobile-phone and 1/10 from "data" mobile-phone services), has been growing significantly, especially its mobile-phone business. As of 2010, Iran had about 66 million mobile-phone subscribers covering about 70% of the population. In contrast, about 36% of Iranians had fixed-line phones.[25]
Landlines
[edit]Mobile phone
[edit]- Mobile: 123.7 million (Jan 2019);[27] 80.85 million (end of 2012 est.);[5] 68 million (Sep. 2011);[28] 35 million (early 2008)[29] and 4.3 million in 2004. The bulk of mobile subscriptions in Iran are made up of prepaid users.[5] As of 2014, 75% of the cell phones in the market were smuggled into the country. Since 2018, mobile registry scheme in Iran has been deployed to combat smuggling of mobile phones.[30]
- Smartphone owners: 12 million (2014 est.),[32] 30 million (2015)[33] 47 million (2016), mostly Samsung and Huawei models.[34]
- Short Text Messages: Iranians send 80 million SMS per day (Nov. 2008).[35]
Operators
[edit]Major mobile operators as of 2008: Mobile Telecommunication Company of Iran (MCI Hamrahe Aval) with 70% market share, MTN Irancell (28%), and Emirates Telecommunications Corp (Etisalat) who won a license for 300 million euros in December 2008.[36][37] Etisalat has been replaced by an Iranian consortium and operates under the name RighTel. The two national operators, Mobile Telecommunication Company of Iran and MTN Irancell both offer GPRS-based data services.[38] Recently[when?] a new LTE mobile broadband service provider called ApTel has started its work in Iran.[citation needed]
As of 2011, major foreign supplier to Iran's mobile-phone networks are: Huawei of China along, Telefon AB L.M. and Nokia Siemens Networks, a joint venture between Nokia and Siemens.[25] As of 2016, France's Orange and U.K.'s Vodafone (through HiWEB.ir) are also developing mobile IT in Iran.[citation needed]
3G network
[edit]Abu Dhabi-based Etisalat and Tamin Telecom, the telecommunications investment arm of Iran's social security and pensions department, will gain exclusive rights for two years to offer second- and third-generation services (3G) in Iran (2008). Assuming a minimum network investment of $4 billion, Etisalat can gain about 20 percent to 25% market share over five years of its operations (by 2013).[39] In 2009 it was announced that Etisalat, however, failed to secure the right to be Iran's exclusive 3G operator for two years.[38] Later, Tamin Telecom announced that, IDRO and Imam Khomeini Decree Center have replaced Etisalat because of contractual disagreements.[citation needed] In 2011, Tamin Telecom revealed plans to cover 60 percent of the population with its 2G network and 40 percent with its 3G network by 2014.[40]
4G network
[edit]As of 2020, 4G LTE population coverage in Iran has reached around 90%. The government is preparing regulations for 5G deployment and aims to launch services in the next couple of years.
5G network
In 2021, Irancell and MCI launched 5G networks in Iran. In 2025, most major cities in Iran have 5G internet support.[41]
International
[edit]As of 2010, international connection services are provided exclusively by Infrastructure Company of Iran, a fully owned subsidiary of TCI.[42] 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)[43] Apart from Iran-Kuwait submarine communications cable network, Iran is launching an optical fiber channel and a submarine communications cable in the Persian Gulf. The next program is to connect the country with global optical fiber networks from northern and northwestern borders.[citation needed]