Iran State Broadcaster Issues 5 IPTV Permits

Islamic Republic of Iran’s Broadcasting Organization (IRIB) has issued temporary permits to five Iranian companies to deliver Internet Protocol Television services (IPTV).

All but one (Iran Electronic Publication) had obtained the same permits in October that were revoked in November due to a dispute between IRIB and the national regulators.

According to ICTNA, the companies are:

Irancell: Iran’s second mobile operator, Aseman; a company owned by the Setade Ejraiye Farmane Emam, better known as Setad (executive headquarters for implementing Imam Khomeini’s directive to help and care for the needy) , Iran Electronic Publication; an electronic publication company affiliated to the  Islamic Development Organization, Baran Telecom; a consortium formed by Samsung and two IT companies Fanap ICT Company and Arya Hamrah,  and finally, Tarashe Sabz: a consortium established by merging several unnamed local Internet service providers.

The cost of the permits was not released to the press. However, with the inclusion of IRIB in the decision process, the charges may well have increased.

In an interview with Fars News Agency last  November, Shahab Javanmard, the CEO of Fanap, said IRIB had revoked all five IPTV permits it had issued earlier.

“The newly appointed director of IRIB [Abdolali Askari] has reformed the institution and a new format for IPTV deals is in the making,” he said.

The “new” permits were issued during a ceremony in which the director of IRIB was present at.

The altered format for IPTV deals have not been disclosed to the media.

Askari told the event: “Subscribers will now have access to a wide range of media uploaded by the companies or the IRIB.”

It is likely that access will also be facilitated to IRIB archives.

According to the state radio and TV broadcaster, the services will complement IRIB programs delivered through traditional terrestrial and satellite signal.

Askari said that the launch of IPTV services “will boost online publication of original content”.

IPTV delivers television services using the Internet Protocol suite over a packet-switched network such as LAN or the Internet, instead of being delivered through traditional terrestrial, satellite signal and cable TV formats.

Unlike downloaded media, IPTV offers the ability to stream the media in smaller batches, directly from the source. As a result, a client media player can begin playing the data (such as a movie) before the entire file has been transmitted. This is known as streaming media.