Page 46 - IRANRptAug21

Iran removes monopoly of Telecommunication s Infrastructure Company
For the initiative, the ICT ministry is cooperating with institutions and enterprises including the National Planning and Budget Organization (PBO), the Ministry of Industry, Mining and Trade, the National Virtual Space Center, and private sector companies active in the production and import of smartphones.
Iranian mobile phone traders imported 15.8mn smartphones over the previous Iranian calendar year (ended on March 19), according to the Iranian Association of Cellphones, Tablet, and Accessories Importers.
In January, a spokesman for the that association said the average price of cellphones had dropped 12-20% on the domestic market, the Tehran Times reported.
Iran’s Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Mohammad-Javad Azari Jahromi, announced a telecoms infrastructure shake-up involving the lifting of the monopoly held by the Telecommunications Infrastructure Company (TIC).
TIC has historically been the sole provider of telecommunication infrastructure to all private and public operators in Iran. Prior to the announcement, TIC had come under increasing criticism for its lax attitude to investment in fibre broadband and maintenance of Iran’s ageing telecoms network. TIC was also the sole company to turn to for all international gateways and IP capacity and connectivity services in the country.
Azari Jahromi said: "With this lifting of the monopoly, the company has been prevented from turning into a radio and other telecommunications company, and measures will also be taken to lift the data monopoly by the end of this government."
The minister highlighted a lack of customer attention and transparency in TIC’s operations, adding that “to change the direction and move towards customer-oriented business and network development, a change was needed in TIC.”
Azari Jahromi added: "By changing the structure and creating transparency and integration of services, TIC becomes one of the best service operators." He added that rural telecoms development was progressing rapidly and that the industry has grown by 2.5 times in Iran in recent years.
Rapid developments in Iran’s mobile telecommunications industry driven by companies including partly South African-owned MTN-Irancell have left traditional telephone and internet providers struggling to keep up. MTN-Irancell and the country’s biggest mobile network, Mobile Communications of Iran (MCI), invested in providing new mobile networks including fourth generation mobile services (4G) from 2016 and recently started the roll-out of fifth generation (5G) mobile connectivity.
The rollout forms part of a push by the government to spearhead the digitisation of state services and keep up growth in Iran’s technology sector despite the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis that is now into its third wave in the country.
In July, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said that the 5G network launch was “good news”, adding that it represented a significant chance for people to become familiar with how to use new super-fast internet connections.
46 IRAN Country Report August 2021 www.intellinews.com