Iran ICT Sector Striving for Bigger Share

EghtesadOnline: The Iranian ICT market has grown three-fold since 2013 as new players enter the robust sector with an eye on digitization and a share of the gradually expanding market.

News ID: ۷۴۰۷۶۸

05 April 2017

Progress in the industry and relevant data was announced by the Telecoms Minister Mahmoud Vaezi at a recent speech in Tehran.

He put the value of the domestic ICT market at 400 trillion rials ($10.5 billion) up from 130 trillion rials ($3.4 billion) in 2013, ICTNA reported.

“The value of the global ICT market is about $30 trillion...Iran’s share of this market should be in the region of $30 billion,” Financial Tribune quoted the minister as saying.

An estimated 16% of Iranians with higher education have majored in ICT, he added, and said the industry should be underpinned by a bigger pool of well educated and skilled tech experts.

Industry Valuation

“By the end of the sixth economic development plan (2017 to 2022) the sector is estimated to be worth 1.2 quadrillion rials ($31.5 billion).”

The telco ministry says over the past five years almost 130,000 applications have been produced in the country. According to Vaezi, “96% of the applications offered on Cafe Bazaar — Iran’s most popular local Android app store — have been produced locally.”

He, however, did not reflect on the fact that the most popular application in Iran, the Telegram messaging app, is developed and owned by a Russian based in Germany.

Vaezi admitted that the bloated bureaucracy and red tape remains a barrier to the development of ICT in the country as is the case with other sectors. He called for reforms to improve and expand the ICT industry in the interest of national economic development by reducing government interference and giving private enterprise a bigger voice and space.