According to the results published on CRA’s website, the privately-owned Internet service provider Shatel scores highest among Iranian ISPs, while users gave a thumbs down to Helma Gostar.
During the survey conducted between September 2018 and March 2019, subscribers were questioned about the quality of services offered by nine Iranian ISPs.
Questioned about the general quality of services, speed, costs and after-sales services, users ranked Shatel, Datak and HiWeba as the best landline Iranian ISPs in a descending order, Financial Tribune reported.
Based on the aforementioned criteria and users input, ISPs can receive a maximum of 20 points from CRA. This is the fourth CRA survey conducted either on a quarterly or half-yearly basis.
Privately-owned Shatel scored 16.69 in the survey and was closely followed by Datak with 15.91 and HiWeb 15.37.
Helma Gostar with 11.85 was ranked lowest among major landline ISPs.
According to the report, the state-owned Telecommunications Company of Iran also fared poorly in the survey and garnered 12.09 points out of 20.
CRA had previously stated that such public surveys can help create a more transparent environment in the domestic Internet sector and improve competitiveness among ISPs.
WiMAX Services
In addition to landline Internet, WiMAX services are offered by two companies, namely MTN-Irancell and Mobinnet.
In CRA’s survey, subscribers of both companies were questioned about customer satisfaction. Irancell received 14.3 points while Mobinnet scored 12.17 in the survey.
For participating in the surveys, users should create an account on CRA’s website. On the survey’s sign-up page, users enter a phone number and name the ISP they have subscribed to. At the end, they receive an authentication text message.
To encourage users to participate in the surveys, CRA grants gifts by drawing lots. Gifts include tablets, mobile phones, external hard disks, smartwatches and modems.
Connectivity Overview
Iran’s total population is estimated at 82.4 million, with nearly 70% living in urban areas. With 72.94 million users, Iran has an Internet penetration rate of 89%.
The number of Iranian Internet users shot up by 29% in 2018. In other words, 16 million people got connected to the web for the first time last year.
An estimated 123.7 million SIM cards have been sold in the country. The number of active mobile SIMs registered a year-on-year increase of 3 million (2.4%).
Average mobile Internet speed was 30.58 Mbps in 2018, 75% higher than a year earlier, while average fixed Internet speed was 12.82 Mbps, indicating a 36% improvement.
Close to 74% of mobile subscribers use prepaid services and 26% are post-paid. Over 59% of the mobile SIMs support broadband Internet (3G and/or 4G).