Two private post operators were granted permits by ICT Ministry to offer services on the sidelines of the Seventh Information and Communications Technology Festival.
To fulfill a long-awaited government promise of promoting the private sector in the field, two private companies, namely Tipax Company and Pishgaman Badpa Madani Consortium (aka Peyke Badpa), were licensed to offer postal services. The move is aimed at creating a more competitive market, which can boost the quality of services offered to customers, the ICT Ministry's website reported.
The annual ICT festival was held concurrent with the ministry's anniversary in Tehran. The ministry was formed in March 1877 under the name of Ministry of Telegraph.
Hossein Fallah Josheqani, the head of Communications Regulatory Authority, said the privatization of postal services is in line with decisions made in the 26th Universal Postal Congress held in Istanbul, Turkey, in 2016.
The Universal Postal Union holds meetings among its 192 members every four years to set the course for post-service providers.
Fallah said UPU has defined priorities based on the quality of innovative services. However, the National Post Company could not fulfill the goals singlehandedly and there has been an easily perceived call for the establishment of private post operators.
“During the fiscal year ending March 2017, the post's market value was estimated to be 8.5 trillion rials ($180 million). With the introduction of private post operators, the market capacity can be expanded to 48 trillion rials ($1.02 billion),” he said.
The CRA chief hoped that the two private companies can revamp the post indices of the country.
“One of the low indices in Iran is the per capita mail volume that currently stands at 6.2. The number is projected to reach 16.7 after the introduction of private post operators,” he added.
According to the National Post Company's business plan, 6.7 trillion rials ($143 million) will be invested in the sector in the next five years, which can create 107,000 jobs in the post sector.
>Expanding Arena
ICT Minister Mohammad Javad Azari-Jahromi also outlined Iran’s achievements in the fields of communications and information technology during the festival.
Quoting the latest International Telecommunications Union's report on ICT Development Index, Azari-Jahromi said, “According to ITU’s report, Iran is ‘the most dynamic country’ in terms of IDI in Asia.”
The latest data from the International Telecommunications Union show continued progress in connectivity and use of information and communications technologies in Iran.
Iran’s 0.54-point improvement from 5.04 to 5.58 points (out of 10) has enabled a rise of four positions in the global ranking. According to the IDI 2017 report published on ITU’s official website, Iran ranks 81st globally and 12th in Asia.
The report indicates that at the global level, the most substantial improvements in IDI value were in Namibia, Iran and Gabon.
Based on data from 2016, the IDI report ranks the performance of 176 economies with regard to ICT infrastructure, use and skills based on internationally comparable data and agreed methodologies between the member states of ITU.
Some of the indicators included in the IDI are numbers of fixed and mobile telephone subscriptions, households with a computer and Internet access, average Internet bandwidth per user, the percentage of individuals using the Internet and the number of fixed-broadband and mobile-broadband Internet subscriptions along mean years of schooling, which include courses in ICT skills.
According to the report, Iran has shown significant improvement in every aspect of ICT development index with a particularly high rate of improvement (68.7%) in the number of mobile-broadband subscriptions per 100 people, as well as notable improvement in Internet users and households with Internet access.
>Exemplary Firms, Entities
On the sidelines of the festival, exemplary Iranian firms active in the fields of ICT were commended.
Ertebat Farda E-Commerce Company won the title of the 2018 best innovative business developer.
As is customary in business events, startups and knowledge-based firms attracted the biggest spotlight.
Digital mapping company, Cedar Studios, claimed the title of leading Iranian ICT-related startups, followed by cloud computing and crowdfunding services Samane Negar Atena.
The third place was jointly claimed by online package delivery service Asanbar and online gift shop Café Kado.
In terms of successful knowledge-based exports, Monenco Iran Consulting Engineers Company, which offers engineering and consulting services, was proclaimed the most successful firm, followed by Nian Electronic, designer and producer of power conversion systems at second place and Shahid Ghandi Communications Cable Company at third place.
ICT-related research firms were also present at the event. Cybersecurity firm Amn Pardaz was acclaimed as the leading firm in the field, followed by network security service provider Douran and local ISP and data center Afranet that were considered the second and third most successful firms respectively.
Four government entities were also commended for application of modern technologies, namely the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration, Iran Water Resources Management, National Organization of Educational Testing and the Organization for Collection and Sale of State-Owned Properties of Iran.
CRA’s director received an award for his exemplary performance from the ICT minister during the event.
