There are 1.57 million domains with dot-IR (.ir) extensions, of which 1.56 million have “.ir only” extensions without “.gov” or “.ac”, according to statistics released by the Iranian National Domain Registration Center (IRNIC).
IRNIC (or NIC.ir), which operates under the auspices of the Institute for Research in Fundamental Sciences, registers Iranian domains. It was launched by Siavash Mirshams Shahshahani, an Iranian mathematician, in 2003.
Organizations and institutions that need a suitable domain must have certain conditions and should add an extension to their domain address in addition to dot-IR, the information technology news website Peivast reported on July 6.
The “.co.ir” domain is for those who have legally registered companies, or for owners of trademarks registered in Iran or other countries. All companies registered in other countries or exclusive representatives of companies registered in other countries can use the “.co” domain. There are 4,280 active “.co.ir” domains in IRNIC.
The “.ac.ir” domain is for universities and approved educational or research institutions. There are 1,155 “.ac.ir” domains in the system.
IRNIC says all natural people can apply for the “.id.ir” domain, of which 702 are available to applicants. The only document required to register for this domain is a copy of the national ID card.
The “.org.ir” domains can be registered by non-profit organizations, non-governmental organizations and associations, registered international institutions and other licensed centers and institutions such as newspapers, publications, etc. There are 228 “.org.ir” domains registered in the NIC.ir system.
The “.gov.ir” domains are used for government institutions such as the the Expediency Council, the Assembly of Experts, Governorate and the like. There are currently 191 active “.gov.ir” domains.
Schools can register a domain with “.sch.ir” extension. After registering the domain request online, school officials must send their written request to IRNIC on a letterhead stamped and signed by the school principal. A total of 218 domains are registered with “.sch.ir” extension.
To register a “.net.ir”, you must have an institution or company that has a license to operate as fixed communications provider (FCP) or a license for fixed communication services (Servco.) from the Regulatory and Radio Communications Organization.
In addition to the above-mentioned English domains, IRNIC also offers a domain registered with .Iran in Persian script.
Iran Fixed, Mobile Internet Speeds Drop Marginally in May
The speeds of both mobile and fixed wireless internet declined in May 2023, after a slight increase in the previous month, 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) settled one place lower for fixed wireless internet while that of mobile fell two places compared to the previous month.
The website used 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. It claims that global rankings are reported based on median download speed “to best reflect the speeds a user is likely to experience in a market.”
Iran’s fixed internet speed ranked 146th (out of 181 countries) while mobile internet speed was at 64th place (out of 140 countries) in May.
Median fixed internet download speed is currently 12.60 megabits per second (Mbps), upload speed is 2.61 Mbps and latency is 29 milliseconds. This is while the median mobile internet download speed is 35.68 Mbps, upload speed is 10.47 Mbps and latency is 29 milliseconds.
According to Speedtest, the median global mobile internet download speed is 42.3 Mbps, upload speed is 10.30 Mbps and latency is 28 milliseconds. On fixed internet, download speed is 79.28 Mbps, upload speed is 35.54 Mbps and latency is 9 milliseconds.
The UAE’s median mobile internet download speed stood at 181.79 Mbps in May to rank first in the world. It was followed by Qatar with 164.86 Mbps, Norway with 146.15 Mbps, Kuwait with 136.75 Mbps, Denmark with 127.13 Mbps, Macau with 123.15 Mbps, South Korea with 114.66 Mbps, China with 110.39 Mbps, the Netherlands with 106.12 Mbps and Sweden with 98.58 Mbps.
For median fixed internet speed, Singapore ranked first with 241.35 Mbps.
Chile with 223.21 Mbps, the UAE with 220.61 Mbps, China with 218.8 Mbps, Hong Kong with 213.14 Mbps, the US with 203.31 Mbps, Thailand with 202.88 Mbps, Denmark with 199.62 Mbps, Spain with 185.65 Mbps and Romania with 176.33 Mbps came next.
The Iranian government has launched a fiber optic project to improve the quality of fixed internet and eliminate the backlog of internet registration by expanding facilities for users and operators.
