From plans to launch cryptocurrencies to the establishment of technoparks and increasing support for startups, Iran’s communication and information technology minister answered questions during an online press conference broadcast via the video streaming service Aparat.
During the conference, Mohammad Javad Azari-Jahromi also said, “An ICT Tech Park is being established in Mashhad and will be inaugurated in May to nurture the startup environment in the northeastern shrine city.”
The establishment of technology parks has topped President Hassan Rouhani’s agenda since he took office in 2013 and several technoparks have been set up in different provinces.
Azari-Jahromi noted that the startup environment must be nurtured in Iran and authorities should pave the way for the growth of such firms, adding that the ministry has prioritized the establishment of startup accelerators in all provinces.
The minister is of the opinion that in order to boost the growth of startups, the environment must be regulated, stressing that guidelines and incentives will be introduced.
Reporters asked whether the ministry had any plans for unblocking access to services like Twitter and YouTube that have been blocked in Iran for some 10 years.
“Unblocking Twitter and YouTube depends on receiving a unanimous green light from the government, the Majlis and the judiciary whose representatives are studying the possibility at the National Center for Cyberspace,” he said.
Azari-Jahromi also addressed the issue of Iran’s outdated copyrights law.
“A new copyrights bill has been devised by a team of lawyers from the ministry in collaboration with representatives from startups and ICT businesses. The bill has been forwarded to lawmakers and is pending ratification,” he said.
Local copyright laws date back to half a century and are simply unfit for modern-day business
Cryptocurrencies
In view of growing public interest in cryptocurrencies, the Central Bank of Iran and the Telecoms Ministry have been mulling how to regulate them and whether to introduce a national virtual coin.
Late February, the minister took to Twitter to announce plans about tapping into the potentials of blockchain technology to launch such a virtual currency.
At the time, he wrote, “In a meeting I had with the board of directors of Post Bank about digital currencies based on the blockchain, it was agreed that the bank would do what is necessary to conduct a trial run of the country’s first digital currency using the capacities of the nation’s elite.”
On Saturday, Azari-Jahromi said the ministry is going ahead with the scheme in collaboration with Post Bank.
He was also questioned about Telegram’s Initial Coin Offering.
Telegram is the most popular messaging app in Iran and has over 40 million users.
Considering the potential impact of Telegram’s ICO on Iran’s economy, Azari-Jahromi said, “The Central Bank of Iran must decide whether Telegram’s cryptocurrency should be banned in Iran or not.”
Communications Infrastructure
The Telecoms Ministry is in charge of the establishment of infrastructure and following the expansion of cellphone network, every Iranian city enjoys 3G and 4G coverage, the minister said.
Since Azari-Jahromi took the helm of the Telecoms Ministry, he has said on various occasions that citizens must have access to high-speed landline Internet services with a minimum speed of 20 mbps.
During the online video conference, the minister said that in order to realize the goal, the technology used by local Internet service providers must be upgraded to Fiber to the Home.
FTTH is the installation and use of optical fiber from a central point directly to individual buildings such as villas, apartments and businesses to provide high-speed Internet access. It will dramatically increase the connection speed available to computer users compared with technologies now used in most places.
According to Azari-Jahromi, currently only 5% of users have access to FTTH services.
Local messengers
As per the recent mandate issued by the High Council of Cyberspace, loans with low-interest rates are to be offered to local firms that have developed online messaging apps. The total sum of the loan is to amount to 50 billion rials ($1 million).
In order to assist native messengers to gain a better footing in the market as per the regulatory ruling issued in January, Iranian Internet subscribers are charged 70% less for using locally-developed messaging applications compared to services offered by foreign firms.
As per the Communications Regulatory Authority’s notification, local mobile operators and Internet service providers are required to offer 70% discount to subscribers using domestic messaging applications.
The discount is offered on communications conducted via four local messengers, namely Gap, iGap, Bisphone and Soroush.
However, the services have failed to garner interest so far. According to local Android market’s Cafe Bazaar, Soroush has been downloaded 1 million times from the service, Gap and iGap 100,000 times each and Bisphone only 20,000 times.
The messengers are also available on local iOS app market Myket. Soroush has been downloaded 200,000 times on Myket, iGap 27,000, Bisphone 14,000 and Gap 7,000 times.
Assuming every person who has downloaded the apps is actively using them, the local messengers will have less than 1.5 million users. This is while their main rival in Iran, Telegram, reportedly has 40 million active users or half the population of the country. Since none of the local apps has ever been subject to an independent audit, they have not been able to gain the trust of users.
The minister listed upcoming plans, including the introduction of private telephony service providers into Iran’s market by September and the establishment of a national information technology union.
“Online press conferences enable all media outlets from different locations in Iran to pose their questions and express their sincere views,” he said.
Azari-Jahromi called on other policymakers and his peers to use the capacity provided by modern technologies and Iran’s national information network for conducting such conferences.
