The Council of Ministers has approved executive regulations to support smartphone production and the domestic microelectronics industry outlined in the budget law of the fiscal 2022-23.
According to these regulations, the import duty for cellphones worth over $600 is equal to 12% and the revenues obtained will be allocated to the Ministry of Industries, Mining and Trade’s Support Fund for Research and Development of Advanced Industries.
As mobile phone manufacture in Iran has high risks for the private sector, the government has endeavored to cover this risk by using legal protections in the form of a budget program by levying the import tariff on smartphones and allocating the revenues for the development of the domestic mobile phone ecosystem, the news portal of the Council of Ministers reported.
The necessity of having an annual production of 20% of smartphones (amounting to nearly three million devices) needed domestically is the main reason for the regulation’s approval.
Credits are allocated to these industries in the framework of programs approved by a working group consisting of the ministers of ICT and industries, as well as the representatives of the Islamic Republic of Iran Armed Forces and the Vice-Presidency for Science and Technology.
The main goals of these regulations are to upgrade the level of technology and quality of products, promote export development and support research projects. Subsequently, investment facilities, financial support and profit subsidies have been lined up to achieve these goals.
Financial support will amount to a minimum of 70% and a maximum of 90% for domestic smartphone production, and a minimum of 10% and a maximum of 30% for the microelectronics industry.
Fixed Internet Speed Declines
The Speedtest web service in its latest survey on internet speed worldwide said the speed of fixed internet in Iran declined in July while that of mobile internet increased compared to the previous month.
Latest data released by www.speedtest.net show Iran's internet speed (according to the median index) fell by one place in fixed internet while that of mobile internet increased by two spots from the previous month.
The website uses two median and mean (average) indicators to measure the ranking and quality of internet worldwide.
The mean index is the average, but the median is the middle point of statistical data. In the report, both mean and median indicators have been used to examine the internet situation.
Currently, Speedtest global rankings are based on median download speed “to best reflect the speeds a user is likely to experience in a market”.
According to the median index, Iran’s fixed internet speed ranked 146th (out of 182 countries) while mobile internet speed was at 70th place (out of 140 countries).
Median fixed internet download speed is now 10.21 Mbps, upload speed is 1.58 Mbps and latency is 29 milliseconds. This is while the median mobile internet download speed is 27.74 Mbps, upload speed is 10 and latency is 30 milliseconds.
According to Speedtest, the median global mobile internet download speed is 30.78 Mbps, upload speed is 8.55 Mbps and latency is 29 milliseconds. On fixed internet, the download speed is 67.25 Mbps, upload speed is 28.50 Mbps and latency is 10 milliseconds.
Fiber-Optic Project
The Iranian government has launched a fiber-optic project to improve the quality of fixed internet and intends to eliminate the backlog of internet registration by expanding facilities for users and operators.
Iran's mean mobile internet speed increased by two ranks last month, while mean fixed internet speed decreased by 8 ranks.
At present, Iran's mobile internet ranks 77th, descending three ranks, while fixed internet ranks 147th, unchanged compared to the previous month.
The mean mobile internet download speed based on this index is 40.45 Mbps, the upload speed is 13.11 Mbps and latency is 36 milliseconds. On fixed internet, the download speed is 22.61 Mbps, the upload speed is 13.56 Mbps and latency is 42 milliseconds.
According to the site, the mean global mobile internet download speed is 75.78 Mbps, upload speed is 14.17 Mbps and latency is 36 milliseconds. On fixed internet, the download speed is 136.37 Mbps, upload speed is 75.95 Mbps and latency is 18 milliseconds.
Comparing the upload, download and latency of Iran's internet with the global mean index show that in the field of mobile internet, Iran was placed in the middle of the table, but in the field of fixed internet, there is a long way to go to catch up with the global average.
