As of July 21, landline phone tariffs will increase by 50%, said the minister of communications and information technology.
According to Mahmoud Vaezi, a 60-second call on a landline previously cost 30 rials ($0.0008), which price has increased to 45 rials ($0.001), Mehr News Agency reported.
“A one minute call on a cellphone costs nearly 14 times as much as it does on a landline, yet the public prefer using mobile phones,” he said.
“This is why the sector has been suffering losses from landlines. We hope revenues raised from this area will be used in active investments by the Telecommunications Company of Iran.”
Davood Zareian, spokesperson of TCI, had formerly said landline tariffs has remained unchanged since 2003.
Mobile Number Portability
Asked about the progress in mobile number portability project, Vaezi said the project was supposed to be launched on May 16 but was delayed as “it is a very complex project.”
“The infrastructures are ready and the pilot phase has started. There are, however, technical problems that need to be removed. The operation of the project will soon be announced,” he said.
Iran’s mobile operators Mobile Telecommunications Company of Iran (MCI or Hamrah-e-Aval), MTN Irancell and RighTel all announced that trials had been conducted and the companies were ready to start offering MNP services.
MNP enables subscribers to retain their numbers while changing networks. The service has been introduced in Iran to promote competition among Iranian mobile network operators.
Internet
Elaborating on Communications Regulatory Authority’s latest enactments, Deputy Telecommunications Minister Mohammad Javad Azari explained that Internet prices will be reduced by Telecommunications Infrastructure Company and Internet service providers.
“Internet prices are expected to reduce by 20% for users,” he said, adding that CRA’s spokesperson will soon announce the finalized Internet prices.
He explained that with the new pricing model, most local Internet-based services will cost a third of international services.
“The new tariffs will benefit and boost the development of local knowledge-based firms active in the areas of software development and video services,” he said.
Azari also said it will help the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Broadcasting organization offer their services at reasonable prices on the national web.
