RighTel Strives to Lure Subscribers

In a tight race for a bigger pie of the local mobile communication services market, RighTel, the smallest operator in Iran, is trying to promote its roaming services.

As per a deal signed between RighTel and Iran Post Company, henceforth every new passport will be delivered by the post company with a promotional package from RighTel, local technology website CITNA reported.

In addition to information on RighTel roaming services, prices and regions of coverage, each package contains a coupon which can be exchanged with a RighTel SIM card for free.

However, the company’s marketing strategy might not produce the desired results because the price of SIMs offered by RighTel’s rivals, namely MTN-Irancell and Mobile Communication Company of Iran are significantly lower. An Irancell or MCI SIM costs between 50,000 to 200,000 rials ($1 to $5).

RighTel was the first mobile operator to offer 3G Internet services in Iran (in Oct. 2011) and enjoyed a short-lived boom in its market share at the time. However, after Irancell and MCI started offering similar services (Aug. 2014), RighTel subscribers trickled away.

All three operators offer roaming services in more than 100 countries. A comparison of the services offered by the three in some of the most visited countries by Iranians indicates that in many cases RighTel charges less.