Shatel Clashes With State-Owned TCI

Private Internet service provider Shatel has hit back at the Telecommunications Company of Iran (TCI) after the state firm barred the ISP’s new Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) service from calling regular landline phones.

Shatel launched its new service only five days ago and looks to break the state firm’s monopoly on telephone lines.

However, with TCI maneuvers, the ISP’s subscribers can only contact others using the same Shatel network, cutting them out of future competition with the state-owned phone company.

Shatel said the move was a breach of law and filed complaints with both the Communication Regulatory Authority (CRA) and the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology.

The CRA said it has received the complaint and is investing the matter.

TCI meanwhile denied the accusations from ISP and noted that any problem with their service is “Shatel’s internal problem.”

 ISPs Rise to Prominence

Shatel is one of several companies offering Fiber Channel Protocol permits for Internet-related services, including telephony services and ADSL modems.

Earlier this month TCI said it was offering 51% of its shares to the private sector. Shatel was reportedly interested in a stake.

Later the Iranian Privatization Organization (IPO) canceled the entire privatization deal, billed as the largest of its kind in the country, by blaming it on the majority shareholder, Mobin Trust Consortium’s   failure to honor its commitments.

Shatel has been at the forefront of expanding its share of the Internet and telecom markets over the past few years.  The company last July announced its move into wireless communications by receiving a Mobile Virtual Network Operators license from the Telecoms Ministry.

The company has also said it can take on the traditional phone providers like MCI and MTN-Irancell with its fourth generation MVNO services.