Telecom and mobile operator Irancell inaugurated several expansion projects last week.
The projects include completion of phase one of the 5G internet network, developing the Northeast Switch Center, first phase of the extension of the fiber-optic internet lines, launching a new mobile and fixed network (TD-LTE), expanding rural communication systems or Universal Service Obligation (USO) and a new version of the Irancell-e-Man (My Irancell) super application.
Irancell provided 5G internet for the first time in the country in July 2020. It set up nine 5G sites from 2020 to 2022. Under the auspices of the ‘Comprehensive Development of 5G Across Iran’ project, the major telecom company has opened more 5G sites. The last was its 106th site on August 30, 2022, ICTNA reported.
It inaugurated its 400th site in the western city of Kermanshah on February 2 coinciding with the 10-Day Dawn ceremonies to mark the anniversary of the 1979 revolution.
The company completed the Northeast Switch Center in the shrine-city of Mashhad in northeastern Khorasan Razavi Province. The project is built on land stretching 1,548 square meters and a built-in area of 864 square meters.
This center will help expand communication services to Irancell customers and also improve service quality.
Founded in 2005 the broadband service provider is in charge of several fiber-optic internet lines. In the framework of the first phase of its so-called ‘Fiber to the House’ (FTTH) project, 36 km, 30 km, 43 km, 53 km, 11 km and 27 km of fiber-optic internet lines in the cities of Babol, Amol, Eslamshahr, Arak, Kamalshahr and Golestan, respectively, were inaugurated on Feb 2.
Irancell also opened 156 new internet sites covering 353 rural areas under the Development of Fast Internet for Rural Areas scheme.
The company put 344 new mobile internet sites in several cities and provinces into operation. Some 98 new TD-LTE sites for its fixed internet program will come into operation in the near future.
Irancell also unveiled a new version of its super application called Irancell-e-Man (My Irancell) to replace the ageing system.
The company says that micro-service architecture, continuous integration and continuous delivery/continuous deployment (CI/CD), Content Management System (CMS), improved user experience and real-time monitoring are the main features of the new version of My Irancell super application.
Bijan Abbasi Arand, the Irancell chief has said that the investment in the above-mentioned projects was to the tune of 26 trillion rials ($58.06 million). The company has reportedly invested more than $10 billion since its birth in 2005.
Internet Speed
The speed of the fixed wireless internet in Iran increased in Dec 2022 compared to the previous month while that of mobile network continued its down trend, according to the Speedtest web service’s latest survey on global internet speed.
Data released by Speedtest.net show Iran’s internet speed (according to the median index) climbed one place for fixed wireless internet while that of mobile fell seven spots from the previous month.
The website uses two median and mean (average) indicators to measure the ranking and quality of internet worldwide. The mean index is the average, but the median is the middle point of statistical data. In the report, both mean and median indicators have been used to examine the internet situation.
Speedtest’s global rankings are based on median download speed “to best reflect the speeds a user is likely to experience in a market”.
According to the median index, Iran’s fixed internet speed ranked 144th (out of 178 countries) while mobile internet speed was at 55th place (out of 141 countries) in December.
Median fixed internet download speed is currently 11.66 Mbps, upload speed is 1.91 Mbps and latency is 29 milliseconds. This is while the median mobile internet download speed is 39.32 Mbps, upload speed is 11.02 and latency is 29 milliseconds.
According to Speedtest, the median global mobile internet download speed is 36.74 Mbps, upload speed is 9.66 Mbps and latency is 28 milliseconds. On fixed internet, the download speed is 75.18 Mbps, upload speed is 32.52 Mbps and latency is 10 milliseconds.
Qatar’s median mobile internet download speed stood at 169.51 Mbps in December to top the world ranking. It was followed by the UAE with 153.09 Mbps, Norway 128.14 Mbps, South Korea 122.55 Mbps, Denmark 119.55 Mbps, China 112.22 Mbps, the Netherlands 112.15 Mbps, Kuwait 109.74 Mbps and Macau 108.01 Mbps.
For median fixed internet speed, Singapore ranked first with 225.71 Mbps. China with 223.49 Mbps, Chile 220.96 Mbps, the UAE 206.12 Mbps, Hong Kong 201.79 Mbps, Thailand 198.98 Mbps, the US 192.73 Mbps, Denmark 192.23 Mbps, Monaco 174.47 Mbps and Spain 168.63 Mbps were next.
Up and Down
Iran’s mean mobile internet speed dipped by eight spots while mean fixed internet speed dipped one point in December to rank 70th and 145th compared to the previous month, respectively.
The mean mobile internet’s download speed based on this index was 52.8 Mbps, the upload speed was 13.99 Mbps and latency was 35 milliseconds. On fixed internet, the download speed was 24.44 Mbps, the upload speed 13.62 Mbps and latency was 41 milliseconds.
According to the site, the mean global mobile internet download speed was 97.08 Mbps, upload speed 15.84 Mbps and latency 34 milliseconds. On fixed internet, the download speed was 150.61 Mbps, upload speed 85.16 Mbps and latency 18 milliseconds.
A comparison of the upload, download and latency of Iran’s internet with the global mean index shows that with regard to mobile internet, Iran was in the middle of the table, but its fixed internet has a long way to go to catch up with the global average.
The UAE with 331.77 Mbps has the highest mean mobile internet speed. Qatar with 311.24 Mbps, Bahrain 262.5 Mbps, South Korea 246.68 Mbps, Kuwait 214.57 Mbps, Denmark 213.59 Mbps, Norway 189.62 Mbps, China 188.96 Mbps, Cyprus 187.07 Mbps and Saudi Arabia with 181.24 Mbps came next.
For mean fixed internet speed, Monaco retained the top spot with 319.59 Mbps. It was followed by Singapore at 300.83 Mbps, Chile 298.5 Mbps, Hong Kong 292.21 Mbps, China 280.01 Mbps, Switzerland 279.8 Mbps, France 271.33 Mbps, Denmark 270.27 Mbps, Romania 260.54 Mbps and Thailand at 260.54 Mbps.
The government in Tehran has launched a fiber optic project to improve the quality of fixed internet and intends to eliminate the backlog of internet registration by expanding facilities for users and operators.
