Telecom Services Expanding in Iran Rural Areas

EghtesadOnline: Broadband Internet services will be available in almost all rural areas in Iran by the end of the next Iranian year (March 2020), according to the ICT Ministry.

News ID: ۷۴۶۸۰۰

27 February 2019

People living in 63% of the rural areas have access to  landline/mobile telephony and broadband Internet, Mehrdad Torabian, director of ICT Ministry’s office for Communication Services Development in Rural Areas was quoted as saying on ict.gov.ir.

The telecom service penetration rate in rural areas has seen a two-fold jump in the past years, Torabian said. “The figure was around 32% in September 2017, when President Hassan Rouhani was re-elected for a second term.”

According to Financial Tribune, he added, "In 2017 close to 9% of villages were totally deprived of any sort of communication services. The figure is now down to 3%.”

Latest data released by the Communication Regulatory Authority show currently over 83% of rural areas in Iran have access to landline communication services — 51,200 out of the total 61,700 villages in the country.

CRA also said more than 80% of Iranians have access to broadband Internet services. The figure is equal to 66.1 million Internet users in the country of 81 million people. Internet User is defined as a person aged over six, who has used the Internet at least once in three months.

Over 10 million landline and 55 million mobile Internet subscriptions are registered in Iran and 88.7 million SIM cards are in the possession of the people.