Iran Update, October 2017

摘要

Introduction 1. Iran had 123.7 million mobile subscriptions at end-2Q17, up from 117.6 million at end-2Q16. In 2Q17, Iran's cellular penetration was at 154.66%, one of the highest in the Middle East and North Africa, but unpredictable conditions and a lack of effective regulations have constrained the development of mobile infrastructure in the country. 2. Iran has witnessed continued growth of mobile subscriptions, driven by 3G and 4G take-up; hence, operators are focusing on data services to maintain average revenue per user (ARPU). Operators have launched multiple data plans and smartphone bundles to boost data use over their LTE networks, and telcos are expected to continue their investment in highspeed networks in the coming years. 3. Iran launched mobile number portability (MNP) in 2016. It enabled subscribers to switch their number between the three national mobile network operators - Telecommunication Company of Iran (TCI), MTN Irancell, and Tamin Telecom (Rightel). 4. In March 2017, the Communications Regulatory Authority (CRA) awarded permission to Shatel to offer MVNO services in Iran under the brand name Shatel Mobile; it recently launched officially. The CRA has also awarded a license to HiWeb to offer SIM cards under a local brand name. The CRA has taken these measures to further boost competition in the Iranian telecom sector. 5. Iran had 7.25 million fixed broadband subscriptions and a household broadband penetration of 31.32% at end-2Q17. xDSL remained the dominant technology for delivering fixed broadband services at end-2016, with a market share of 72.48%. 6. Iran has an autarkic TV industry; its content is not widely exported, mainly because of political considerations. 7. Restricted access to international content providers and frequent blocking of over-the-top (OTT) services, such as Facebook, Twitter, Skype, YouTube, and Instagram, along with a lack of local content services, has hindered the growth of data services in Iran.