Major mobile operators MTN-Irancell and Mobile Telecommunications Company of Iran (MCI) have revised their pricing procedures making Internet services a bit costlier.
Operators usually offered special packages which enabled users to access Internet at relatively low rates. Now they have deleted the affordable packages in a manner that compels users to purchase more expensive services, Fararu reported.
One of the moves that triggered widespread criticism among Internet users was the MCI’s decision to omit all the packages with bandwidth caps of under 5 gigabytes per month with free nightly access.
By buying the packages users could connect to the Internet for free between 12 pm and 6 am. Many users opted for such schemes and programmed their download via automated download manager software during the free period.
A bandwidth cap, also known as a band cap or a data cap, is a limit imposed on the transfer of data over a network. Although often referred to as a “bandwidth cap”, it is not the actual bandwidth (bits transferred per second) that is limited, but the amount of data downloaded per month.
Irancell no longer offers monthly packages which only have day-time traffic and users who only employ their handset for connecting to the Internet between 6 a.m. and 12 pm must now pay for late-night traffic they will not benefit from.
Quality Issues
Currently one of the affordable monthly Internet plans offered by local mobile operators is Irancell’s 10 GB package which costs 295,000 rials ($2.13) and includes 10 GB of late-night traffic. Prior to the introduction of the revised pricing procedures a similar package used to cost less than $2.
To get the numbers right, the excessively low bandwidth caps and slow speed of connections need to be considered.
For instance, one of the plans offered by AT&T that comes with the downstream speed of 100 Mbps and a bandwidth cap of 1 terabyte is priced $50 per month. This is while according to speedtest.net the average Internet speed in Iran is 25.95 Mbps.
Speedtest.net is a web service that provides free analysis of Internet access performance metrics, such as connection data rate and latency. It was founded by Ookla in 2006 and is based in Seattle, Washington.
In speedtest.net August report Iran is ranked 52nd in terms of mobile internet speed among 123 countries surveyed. Since the beginning of the year, Iran’s rank has improved five points and the average speed has increased 38.4% reaching 25.95 Mbps. The global average mobile Internet speed is 22.99 Mbps.
Pricing Within the Law
Following the widespread criticism, ICT Minister Mohammad Javad Azari-Jahromi said he has instructed the Communication Regulatory Authority to look into the matter and in case of infringement by operators, legal action must be taken, ISNA reported.
According to industry insiders, the changes in pricing systems are seemingly within the law.
Two years ago the CRA introduced a price cap system for mobile operators, which mandates that Internet services for prepaid SIMs and pay-as-you-go subscribers cannot be priced above 419,430 rials ($3.04) and 629,145 rials ($4.56) per gigabyte.
This means that Irancell’s 10 GB package mentioned earlier can cost up to $45.
However, CRA has called on users to file complaints with the ombudsman if they notice any irregularities in the new pricing systems.
Economic Headwinds
Following US President Donald Trump's withdrawal from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, the value of the rial plunged to unprecedented lows and prompted businesses of all kinds to raise prices of services to remain afloat in the chaotic market.
Industry insiders are of the opinion that mobile operators will soon be forced to increase prices further since network maintenance costs have increased significantly in recent months.
Almost all communications equipment used by the operators are imported and their prices are apparently affected by the plummeting rial.
Furthermore, Washington has mounted pressure on tech firms to cut ties with Iranian companies. This also will impact the ability of local companies to maintain their operations.
