Mobile phone and cellular internet subscriptions in Iran increased by 160% and 109%, respectively, at the end of the current fiscal year’s third quarter (Sept. 23-Dec. 31), while the number of subscribers of landline phones also showed growth.
In the Communications Regulatory Authority’s report on Iran’s Information and Communications Technologies’ status, a decline in the number of RighTel mobile phone subscribers can be seen, which is against the trend registered by the two other mobile operators.
Increase in MCI, Irancell Subscribers
Regulatory statistics in the mobile communications sector show that the mobile phone subscription rate has grown by more than 5% compared to the first half of the current fiscal year (March 21-Sept. 22).
In this regard, Mobile Telecommunications Company of Iran, known as Hamrah-e Aval in Persian and commonly abbreviated as MCI, attracted more than 1.5 million new subscribers during the autumn (Sept. 23-Dec. 21) and Irancell also attracted more than 1.3 million new subscribers. In the meantime, the third operator, RighTel, faced a decline of nearly 80,000 subscribers during this period.
In total, nearly 2.8 million new subscribers have been added to Iran's mobile communications sector in the third quarter, which shows a significant increase but is far from reaching the saturation point.
In the mobile internet sector, the downtrend of 3G subscribers of mobile operators has continued from the first half of this year.
Among the operators, MCI had 1.8 million fewer 3G subscribers. On the other hand, 4G subscribers of all operators increased and again the share of MCI with more than 2.4 million new subscribers was more than that of other operators, Peivast reported.
While RighTel showed an increase in the number of 4G subscribers, it also registered a decrease in the number of 3G subscribers.
In general, the number of internet subscribers has decreased this fall, compared to the end of H1 (Sept. 22).
Despite the decline in the number of RighTel subscribers, the number of mobile internet subscribers in Iran is still increasing. With more than 1,490,000 new subscribers, it has a subscription rate of 109%.
Landline Communications
Iran is one of the few countries where the number of landline phone subscribers is still increasing and there is a demand for this technology.
Among the operators that provide landline phone services, a large share of the market belongs to Iran Telecommunications Company, while FCP and Servco hold a very small share.
In total, more than 234,000 new subscribers had been added to all landline communications, most of which were related to xDSL.
FTTH technology, as one of the fixed internet services that has received a lot of attention from the Ministry of Information and Communications Technologies in recent months, was not doing very well and about 9,000 new subscribers had been added in the last three months and only 10 belonged to the total share of FCP companies.
According to CRA’s previous e statistical report, the subscription 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 comprises 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.
Mobile Phone Coverage
MCI, a subsidiary of the Telecommunications Company of Iran, is the largest mobile operator in Iran.
Irancell is a telecommunications company that operates Iran's largest 2G-3G-4G-4.5G-5G mobile network, and fixed wireless TD-LTE internet services. It was the first provider of 5G internet in Iran.
RighTel is the first 3G mobile operator in Iran, providing 3.75G mobile telecommunication services to individuals and businesses. Established by the Social Security Organization in late 2011, it launched services in 2012.
Mobile network subscription rate in the country reached 156.64% in the first half of the current fiscal year (March 21-Sept. 22), according to CRA.
According to the 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).
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 holding 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, while that of Irancell and RighTel reached 64,153 km and 20,908 km respectively.
