Mobile network penetration rate in the country reached 156.64% in the first half of the current fiscal year (March 21-Sept. 22), according to Iran's Communications Regulatory Authority.
According to a periodic report published on CRA's website, Cra.ir, the total number of active SIM cards in the country reached 133.09 million on Sept. 22, up 0.96% from the first quarter (March 21-June 21) figure.
SIM cards are provided by three domestic mobile operators, namely Mobile Telecommunications Company of Iran (MCI, or Hamrah-e Avval in Persian), Irancell and RighTel.
During the period under review, MCI held the lion's share of the market, accounting for 71.26 million SIM cards, followed by Irancell with 56.68 million and RighTel with 5.14 million.
As per the report, approximately 1.27 million SIM cards were sold in the second quarter (June 22-Sept. 22), with MCI accounting for over 53% and Irancell accounting for 42.5%.
The total number of 4G telecom stations in the country is 33,378, as against 37,707 for 3G and 43,384 for 2G.
While mobile operators have been working hard to develop 3G and 4G connections, the 2G network continues to enjoy the most extensive coverage.
MCI has 96.5% network coverage in the country, followed by Irancell at 87.21% and RighTel at 56.9%.
In terms of mobile network access in rural areas, MCI once again leads the pack, providing telecom services to 44,918 villages. This is while the reach of Irancell and RighTel extended to 19,191 and 954 villages, respectively.
According to CRA data, MCI's mobile coverage has expanded to 82,146 kilometers in the country’s road network, as Irancell and RighTel reach 64,153 km and 20,908 km respectively.
Landline Telephony
According to CRA’s previous comprehensive statistical report, the penetration rate of landline telephone services reached 34.81% by June 22, with 29.24 million active subscribers.
The rate shows a slight improvement compared with the figure of the previous year, which was 34.68%.
The report showed that the number of villages with landline telephony infrastructure reached 47,274, which is 82.57% of Iran’s total rural areas.
The infrastructure has been developed mainly by state-owned operator Telecommunications Company of Iran and HiWEB.
Iran has 92,620 public telephones, most of which are not functioning for lack of services, or the widespread use of cellphones.
Broadband Internet
The report showed landline internet is expanding at a snail’s pace, mainly due to public discontent over the high rates and poor services.
According to CRA’s charts, the penetration rate of landline internet was only 12.38% by June 21.
A total of 10.39 million subscribers use different landline internet services, including xDSL with 8.57 million subscribers, FTTX with 159,700, WiFi with 382,300 and TD-LTE with 1.48 million subscribers.
Over 8.5 million of the total users around the country were household users and the rest were business outlets.
The report illustrates that the landline internet speed for around 2 million subscribers did not exceed 20 Mb/s and 4 million had access to 2-10 Mb/s speed.
Plans Underway
Iran’s ICT Ministry plans to provide access to speedy connections to all villages with over 20 households.
These efforts are in line with the Universal Service Obligation Plan, proposed by the ICT Ministry, for providing broadband internet access to rural areas.
Officials believe that increasing the access of users, corporations and organizations to the internet can increase economic productivity and promote social welfare. Internet access increases traditional business activities and interactions via new strategies.
Rural craftsmen and farmers in Iran are now able to conduct their businesses through online platforms, directly interact with customers and exclude middlemen.
The promotion of ICT in rural areas also helps build novel industries and businesses.
The development of internet connection has also helped curb educational disparity and offers free education to all students through online platforms.
By utilizing the integrated ICT infrastructure, officials have connected all urban and rural schools with high-speed internet, giving school students of all grades access to online education and reducing educational disparities.
“The implementation of the plan was slated to finish by March 2020, but impediments in supplying equipment had delayed the work,” former ICT minister, Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi, said earlier.
The ICT Ministry is also designing a project to provide high-speed internet access to all universities.
Work is on track to connect around 1,000 universities to the internet via optic fibers.
