Since President Hassan Rouhani's administration took office in 2013, broadband Internet subscribers in the country have increased from 4 million to 10 million, said the minister of communications and information technology.
Mahmoud Vaezi added that 200,000 people were using mobile Internet in Iran in August 2013, which figure has currently reached 20 million, Tasnim News Agency reported.
The minister made the statements at the Conference on Policymaking Process: Necessities and Solutions in Tehran on Saturday.
The administration believes that ICT is key to national development. Like many other countries, Iran is trying to develop ICT infrastructure for facilitating many other sectors.
During the past two years, bandwidth in Iran has increased and is now 4,000 gigabytes per second.
Vaezi noted that facilitating users' experience with ICT is also very critical.
The ministry is responsible for developing the infrastructures while other sectors need to focus on producing acceptable digital content. The most important areas that should be developed in cyberspace are culture and education.
"Cyberspace to us presents both a rich opportunity and a major threat. In the contemporary world, many tasks cannot be carried out without drawing on cyberspace, therefore it is indispensable," he said.
"On the other hand, a certain set of content could threaten morality and the core of family values. This is why we must proceed cautiously, minimize the threats and improve network security."
Last year, a large part of the budget was allocated to boost network security and the ministry took up the task of safeguarding social relations on media networks.
"We want families to know that we are securing the Internet so that they can have a safe experience. Families must also take safety measures when using the social media and Internet," he said.
Vaezi noted that the ministry is working to expand ICT services in villages and underdeveloped areas.
"Last year, 18,000 villages in Iran went online and we have planned to bring Internet to 15,000 more villages," he said.
