In a statement published by the news website Peivast.com, the company said it hopes to soon be able to cut prices. However, industry observers say given the economic challenges the country is facing, other ISPs too will be forced to jack up prices.
A 1-month Internet package sold by Mobin Net with a bandwidth cap of 50 GB costs 680,000 rials ($6).
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, Financial Tribune reported.
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.
Earlier in September, major local mobile operators MTN-Irancell and Mobile Telecommunications Company of Iran (MCI) raised the cost of their Internet services. Now Internet packages sold by the two firms are 8-10% dearer.
It merits mention that Iran has the third cheapest broadband Internet services worldwide and is ranked 145th in terms of average speed, UK-based broadband comparison site Cable reported.
Published on cable.co.uk, the report said while Internet services are relatively slow (512Kbps to 16Mbps) in Iran, the country has a growing landline Internet services marketplace, with providers such as Shatel and Pishgaman competing to offer some of the cheapest connectivity in the world.
The report says that the average cost of broadband services in Iran is $8.2 per month. It was $3.86 last year, indicating an 89% year-on-year price increase. Last year Iran was ranked as the top country with the cheapest broadband Internet service.
Cable further reported that the average download speed in Iran is 2.2Mbps in Iran and the country is 145th in its broadband average speed ranking.
According to the UK company, it takes over 5 hours to download a typical HD film (5GB) in Iran. The firm said that the average speed has increased by 41% over the past year. Average speed in Iran was calculated based on 16,738 tests.