To upgrade ICT infrastructures in underdeveloped parts of the country, the Iranian government has joined hands with the private sector to provide over 1,000 rural areas with access to mobile network and internet services.
During a Saturday event held in Tehran, ICT Minister Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi made the announcement and held symbolic inaugurations in Shahniz and Golaneh villages in Kohgilouyeh-Boyerahmad and Kurdestan provinces, the ministry’s website Ict.gov.ir reported.
The total budget spent on development project amounts to 3 trillion rials ($16.89 million), of which 896 billion rials ($4.98 million) are provided by the major mobile operator MTN-Irancell.
As a result, people in 1,034 villages were linked to the National Information Network and can now access mobile data connection.
NIN is an independent network whose content is compatible with Islamic values, one of the most important components of which is the availability of localized services.
The new connections were mostly in Kurdestan, Sistan-Baluchestan and Khorasan Razavi provinces, whereby 171, 128 and 116 new villages respectively were connected to mobile network and internet services.
The expansion of telecom coverage is a follow-up of ICT Ministry’s plan to provide all villages with over 20 households with access to speedy connections by the end of the current Iranian year (March 2021).
The efforts are in line with the Universal Service Obligation plan, proposed by the ICT Ministry, for providing broadband internet access to rural areas.
The total budget spent on the development amounts to 3 trillion rials ($16.89 million), of which 896 billion rials ($4.98 million) are provided by the major mobile operator MTN-Irancell
In late May, during a similar inaugural event on establishing ICT infrastructures in 1,500 villages, Jahromi said about 93% of villages with over 20 households have access to mobile communication and data services, and the number of villages connected to NIN reached 89%.
Officials believe that increasing the access of users, corporations and organizations to the internet can increase economic productivity and promote social welfare. Internet access not only increases traditional business activities and interactions, but also helps build novel industries and businesses.
However, different parts of the society have different levels of broadband internet access, which is also referred to as the communication gap.
‘Communication Justice’
Speaking at the inaugural ceremony, Jahromi said the expansion of ICT infrastructure and internet access is aimed at realizing “communication justice”, which is a part of “social justice”.
The ICT minister noted that the development of communication and internet access has helped online education, startups, banking system and news broadcasting through the social media to grow significantly.
“The infrastructure proved its usefulness, especially in the past four months when the Iranian people have been struggling with the outbreak of coronavirus,” he added.
Announcing that the internet traffic within the country has increased by 150% in the past several months, he said, “Given the increasing dependency of lives on ICT technologies, exclusion of underdeveloped areas from the rapid growth of technology means condoning social inequality and injustice.”
Jahromi added that all the measures are aimed at bringing about a digital revolution, the results of which will help flourish a digital economy.
“Besides creating job opportunities, the move prepares the ground for the young generation to play their part in the domestic economy,” he said.
Nationwide Push
In late August 2019, President Hassan Rouhani, who announced 1,000 rural connections in Sistan-Baluchestan, Kerman, Fars and West Azarbaijan provinces, said that in terms of convenience, all efforts are being made to fill the gap between urban and rural living conditions.
Villages and metropolises should be developed in tandem, for which extensive efforts have been made to provide all villagers with potable water, energy, health and communication services.
Experts in the field say that by bridging the communication gap between cities and villages, migration to cities will decline.
“People living in 63% of rural areas have access to landline/mobile telephony and broadband internet,” Mehrdad Torabian, director of ICT Ministry’s Office for Communication Services Development in Rural Areas, told reporters in September 2019.
“The telecom service penetration rate in rural areas has seen a twofold jump in the past few years. The figure was around 32% in September 2017, when President Hassan Rouhani was reelected for a second term.”
Torabian noted that in 2017, 9% of villages were totally deprived of any sort of communication services, which figure is now down to 3%.
Latest data released by the Communications Regulatory Authority show that currently, 83% of rural areas in Iran have access to landline communication services, which constitute 51,200 out of the total 61,700 villages in the country.
CRA also said more than 80% of Iranians have access to broadband internet services. The figure is equal to 66.1 million internet users in the country of 81 million people.
Over 10 million landline and 55 million mobile internet subscriptions are registered in Iran and people hold 88.7 million SIM cards.
