Page 42 - IRANRptNov18

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The Islamic Republic was slow to adopt the internet, but in recent years it upgraded to 4G mobile telephone services, which boosted internet provision sales and e-commerce ventures . Meanwhile, behind the scenes, the country took measures to secure its internal networks with the so-called National Information Network (NIN) , which runs in parallel to regular internet lines.
The so-called Halal Internet followed IT developments in the country including the Content Delivery Network (CDN), set up to be the first service for secure internet delivery in Iran.
Iran’s Telecommunications and Accessories Association has announced new rules and restrictions set by government officials that apply to the purchase of mobile phones.
Each customer is now only permitted to purchase a single mobile and a national ID card and provided code must be presented to validate the transactions, Fars News Agency reported on October 30, citing the changes. The mobile phone retailing industry in Iran is experiencing substantial difficulties with the severe depreciation of the Iranian rial (IRR), triggered by the reimposition of heavy US sanctions, pushing up prices on most latest models by around 70% in recent months. Prior to that, a national mobile registry scheme was set up to combat black market phones—unregistered phones do not work on the telecommunications network.
Mehdi Mohebbi, chairman of the Iranian Telecommunications and Accessories Association, said the new stipulations were set by the Organization for Consumer Protection under the Ministry of Industries, Mining and Trade. Earlier in the summer, mobile phone merchants in Tehran protested against the hoarding of goods by some importers amid the rial devaluation. Unsettled by, or looking to exploit the currency instability, stores have removed phone price tags for days at a time, while formulating new prices.
On October 30, a mobile phone store in the capital was offering the iPhone X 64gb version at IRR145.4mn (€863 at the unofficial exchange rate).
9.1.5 Agriculture sector news
Plans for a deal under which Russia and Kazakhstan would supply wheat to Iran which in turn would supply flour to Iraq are not advancing apparently because financing solutions have not been put forward.
“The Iranian side had its condition—if you would like to realise such agreement, you need to finance it. There has been no progress in this process so far,” Kaveh Zargaran, secretary general of the Iran Federation of Food Industry Associations, told Reuters on the sidelines of a grains conference in Moscow this week.
The deal has been under discussion for six months. If the stalled deal is finally concluded, Russia would supply around 100,000 tonnes of wheat per month to Iranian private millers, who are not allowed to use domestic wheat for flour exports. Iran was one of the largest markets for Russian wheat until it slashed purchases in 2016 amid Tehran’s self-sufficiency drive.
Iran has enough wheat harvested inside the country to cover its needs until the next year, according to Zargaran, who added: “We import wheat only for flour exports. It’s a temporary import. Import of wheat for real use is suspended.”
42 IRAN Country Report November 2018 www.intellinews.com