Page 67 - IRANRptSep21

combination of CNET and Amazon. We thought it was necessary to have both business models in Digikala because both were a very real problem for Iranians.”
9.2.6 TMT corporate news
Mobile Communications of Iran plays catch-up as it launches fourth 5G mast
Iran starts roll out of 5G mobile connectivity
Iran’s number one mobile phone operator Mobile Communications of Iran (MCI) has launched its fourth fifth generation (5G) mobile phone mast. The mast, in the Tehran Book Garden, was brought online on March 13.
MCI is playing catch-up with technological leader in Iran MTN-Irancell, a company part-owned by MTN of South Africa. It is usually the enterprise associated with the launching of new telecoms technology on the Iranian market. MTN-Irancell already operates several 5G mobile masts in the capital. The opening ceremony for the new 5G capable site is part of a push by the The Iranian government is keen on the rolling out of 5G as part of plans to bring business and government services online to reduce overall operating costs. However, Minister of Information and Communications Technology Mohammad-Javad Azari Jahromi sometimes draws the ire of conservative factions in pushing ahead with 5G plans in ways they deem irresponsible in terms of security, cultural, religious or other sensibilities.
Opening up the super-fast internet in the country could weaken the state’s grip on the media, even when it comes to news and programming from Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), the state-owned media giant which controls swathes of news output in Iran.
Iran’s two largest mobile network operators, MTN-Irancell and Mobile Communications of Iran (MCI), have started a rollout of a fifth generation (5G) mobile network in Tehran, ITMEN magazine has reported. MTN-Irancell’s first 5G mast is seen at the Communication and Information Technology Research Institute located on Kargar street in central Tehran. It was placed there in cooperation with the telecommunications ministry. Other areas of the capital will see 5G antennae installed gradually over the next few months by both operators.
The rollout forms part of a push by the government to spearhead the digitisation of state services and grow Iran’s technology sector despite the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis now into its third wave in the country.
MCI said it was in the process of localising equipment needed for the 5G rollout.
Several new 5G masts are to be put into operation in Tehran and other cities in the next few weeks.
5G in Iran is being introduced in cooperation with unnamed Chinese telecommunications companies; Huawei equipment is being used, according to reports on the ground.
On November 2, Mehdi Akhavan Bahabadi, CEO of MCI, said at a launch introducing 5G mobile applications in the country that several deals between higher education institutions and the operator have been signed to develop apps locally.
67 IRAN Country Report September 2021 www.intellinews.com