Iran’s Communications Regulatory Authority has recently released a report on the development of information and communications technologies over the past eight years.
CRA attributes the expansion of connectivity services nationwide to the government’s agenda of converting Iran’s conventional economy to a digital one.
The report noted that as Iran’s communication infrastructure improved and people gained greater access to smart devices, internet usage boomed at an annual average rate of 29%.
Official data show mobile internet subscribers increased from 68.9 million at the beginning of the current fiscal year (March 20) to 76.5 million after six months.
The number of landline internet users reached 9.47 million by the end of the period, including xDSL with 7.7 million subscribers, FTTX with 118,000, WiFi with 313,000 and TD-LTE with 1.2 million subscribers.
Access to mobile internet and the number of users in social media channels have respectively grown by 75% and 18% annually, the report said.
ICT development efforts have also expedited network coverage. Fiber optic network has expanded from 51,849 kilometers in 2013 to 70,789 in 2020 across the country and it has the capacity to reach 240,000 kilometers.
Elaborating on data transfer capacity, the report said Iran’s local area network (LAN) bandwidth has seen a whopping increase of 3,800% from 624 Gbps in 2013-14 to 24,020 Gbps in 2019-20.
It also noted that the wide area network bandwidth has also recorded a 5,200% hike during the period, from 82 Gbps to 4,309 Gbps.
NIN Helps
CRA attributes these developments to the establishment of the National Information Network that was launched in August 2016 as an alternative and independent network with content compatible with Islamic values to facilitate Iranian users’ access to indigenous content.
Last week, Iran’s Ministry of Information and Communications Technologies announced that it has established over 80% of the integrated network’s infrastructure through the expansion of fiber optic connections, establishment of communication stations and towers, and a surge in the number of data processing racks and data centers.
Deputy ICT Minister Hamid Fattahi said the completion of NIN will remove the deficiencies and poor quality of internet and mobile connection in rural areas.
He noted that the ICT Ministry has put maximum effort into boosting NIN’s performance by expanding the network’s data centers and data processing capacity.
In mid-September, the first phase of a major database was launched in Bumehen, east of Tehran, with an investment of 4 trillion rials ($15.53 million) by the Telecommunications Infrastructure Company.
The project is aimed at empowering NIN, expanding the country’s communications infrastructure and materializing a digital economy.
The database boasts a terabit per second storage and a computing capacity sufficient to run the basic functional services, including email, messengers and search engines.
Noting that these basic services are vital for internet users, Fattahi said the infrastructure enables experts to develop local versions of today’s most popular services and gradually replace them, since a domestic database can reduce the cost and increase the speed and quality of services.
The database specified 100 racks and 500 servers to would-be local messengers and search engines. The capacity can be easily boosted, depending on the type of services targeted and the development of hosting and cloud computing infrastructure.
A rack houses servers, networking devices, cables and other data center computing equipment.
“The database has a massive capacity for boosting employment in private businesses,” he said.
In line with efforts to boost NIN’s function, major mobile operator MTN-Irancell launched a datacenter with 407 racks in late May.
Executed with an investment of 11 trillion rials ($42.71 million), the data center added a 25% data storage capacity.
Officials say the project is aimed at extending a helping hand to data security and independence, while contributing to the development of NIN in tandem with the digital economy.
Global Status
ICTs play a crucial role in expanding digital economy. As a dynamic, evolving concept, digital economy is based on digital computing technologies.
Based on the report, digital economy is predicted to comprise 30% of global GDP in five years.
According to Oxfordeconomics.com, the figure has been $11.5 trillion, or 15.5% of global GDP in 2016.
Speaking of Iran’s status, CRA says digital economy was worth 167.2 trillion rials (649.32 million) in 2013-14, which is 2.6% of GDP. The figure almost tripled by 2019-20, reaching 6.5% or 457.4 trillion rials (1.77 billion).
Although the average growth of digital economy in Iran has been higher compared to other sectors, the rate is far behind the global records, the report said.
Official data show that with 31,000 online shops, Iran’s e-commerce transaction reaches 1.6 quadrillion rials ($6.21 billion) per year, registering an annual growth of 60% in volume.
