Page 45 - IRANRptJul18

deliver billions of dollars of planes to Iran and Airbus is in a difficult predicament—its own multi-billion dollar contracts to provide Iranian airlines with aircraft rely on US licensing as the plane manufacturer uses American-built components.
It is thus not hard to imagine some Iranian airlines resorting to methods of the ‘old days’ during which, it is commonly acknowledged, they smuggled in essential parts in order to keep flying.
So far IranAir has only received a handful of jets from Airbus. The deliveries were celebrated as the first such modern aeroplanes Iran had received in three decades.
Islamic Republic of Iran Railways (RAI) deputy chief executive Hossein Ahsouri is unhappy that Iranian private rail wagon manufacturers have surpassed a two-year grace period for completing contracts, Mehr News Agency reported on June 19.
Iran has committed millions upon millions of dollars for the renovation of its entire ageing railway fleet and infrastructure as part of an overhaul of a system that it eventually wants to link to China’s plans to connect the country to its huge One Belt One Road (or Belt and Road) initiative as a modern trade transit hub. A two-year moratorium was given to private sector rail manufacturing companies for the repairing of old wagons but unfortunately the “objective of the said issue was not materialised”, Ahsouri reportedly said. Manufacturers had also essentially reneged on contracts to build new wagons meaning the plan to phase out wagons aged more than 30 years-old was in jeopardy, he added.
Lashing out at the lacklustre performance of the companies, Ahsouri said officials would now step up efforts in refurbishing old wagons rather than wait for new ones.
9.2.4 TMT corporate news
Britain’s Vodafone is quitting its agreement with Iranian internet service provider HiWEB because of impending US sanctions, ICTNA reported on June 9. The move, reportedly related by unnamed sources in Tehran, comes a day after the UK-based firm sent its latest paperwork on dealings with the Iranian company to the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), which stated that it had met all requirements under the waiver given by the US administration prior to Washington’s May 8 unilateral withdrawal from the nuclear deal.
Vodafone’s agreement was one of the less risky deals with an Iranian counterpart as it was effectively a marketing and cooperation agreement with HiWEB.
As Iran started opening up in 2015 prior to the nuclear deal taking effect in January 2016, US operator AT&T also signed a roaming contract. Its deal was with Iran's third operator Rightel. Other companies also entered the country’s technology industry. The main mobile telecoms firms in Iran, for instance, started using international consultants to boost overall services.
Iran has an estimated 110mn mobile phone SIM cards and a population of around 80mn. Iranians often own at least two mobile phones, and keep several additional SIM cards for business and leisurely uses.
45 IRAN Country Report July 2018 www.intellinews.com