Page 51 - IRANRptDec21

Iranian Netflix clone launched by MCI
including data cards and second lines, with roughly 1.2 SIM cards per person in Iran.
Netbox, a startup Iranian video-on-demand service, has been launched by Mobile Communications of Iran (MCI), Digiato has reported.
The platform was created by graduates of Sharif University of Technology, sometimes referred to as the "MIT" of Iran. The graduates received funding from MCI as part of an initial round of venture capital investment.
MCI’s investment arm announced in March that it would invest Iranian rial (IRR) 750bn ($2.77mn at the free market rate, $17.8mn at the official exchange rate) in two startups.
Mohammad Mehdi Abbaskhani, CEO of the investment arm, said that more than 200 business plans from companies in fintech, tourism, media, health and education were reviewed by his staff this year alone.
Netbox has entered a market with stiff competition. However, foreign streaming services like Netflix and Amazon Prime are blocked in Iran.
One streaming platform already in operation on the domestic market is Filimo. It said in March that it was expanding its reach to other countries with Persian speakers, including Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Afghanistan.
MCI, despite being the largest and oldest established mobile provider in Iran, has struggled to keep up with its main rival, MTN-Irancell, co-owned by South Africa’s MTN, which has invested huge sums in recent years into tech and e-commerce.
9.1.7 Healthcare sector news
Iranian insurers call for government help as coronavirus payout pressure mounts
The Iranian Insurers’ Organisation—an industry lobby group—has requested financial support from Iran’s government as it contends with the country’s growing death toll from the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, according to Donyaye Eqtesad.
Insurance companies, call centres and secondary agents in offices around the country suspended much of their work given closure notices issued by the government as the outbreak worsened, but following their return to operation they have found themselves buckling under the weight of applications and payouts.
Some 400,000 people are employed in the insurance sector in Iran, a country of 83mn. The industry is now facing a perfect storm of policy auto-renewals together with payouts, despite not being able to raise the base prices of policies.
The medical and life insurance segments have reportedly taken the biggest hits in recent days, with huge payouts becoming due.
Also, unemployment benefit, which is backed by insurance, has skyrocketed in recent weeks, with some 600,000 people officially laid off as a consequence of the economic effects of the pandemic in Iran. Earlier, as part of preparations to deal with the outbreak, insurance companies were told by Central Insurance of Iran to recapitalise and meet new minimum liquidity rules ahead of the impending payout surge.
The government in 2017 set IRR2.5 trillion ($65.18mn at the official exchange rate) as the minimum capital requirement for starting a reinsurance firm and IRR1tn as the requirement for starting an insurance firm.
51 IRAN Country Report December 2021 www.intellinews.com