Internet prices throughout Iran are likely to decline in the coming year while speed is expected to increase, according to a new press release from a government committee.

Historically overpriced in view of the earning potentials of a majority of Iranians, Internet prices are expected to become more competitive with the introduction of 3G and 4G mobile connectivity.

All telecoms and Internet companies in Iran, including mobile operators, are obliged to lower their prices under the new scheme.

Telecommunications Company of Iran has also been told to cut the price of bandwidth sold to operators and subscribers by at least 30%.

Also, mobile network operators are required to reduce mobile data transmission tariffs from 0.5 to 0.4 rials per kilobytes.

Two years ago, a similar plan was proposed and implemented by the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology to reduce prices but the scheme was not successful and subscribers reported no significant change in the price of Internet packages sold to end-users.

Bandwidth and Cost

Minister of Communications and Information Technology Mahmoud Vaezi announced on Instagram that the local Internet bandwidth will increase in the upcoming months, but did not say when.

Iran�s Internet bandwidth recently increased to 4 terabits per second, according to a previous announcement by the official.

In addition, Deputy Telecoms Minister Mohammad Javad Jahromi said, �One of the main goals that we are trying to achieve is to support the production of local content.�

Jahromi, who is also the CEO of Telecommunications Infrastructure Company, said tariffs for Aparat and Filimo (online video services) dropped by almost 50% in the past few months, giving the company an unprecedented lead over its rivals.

�We hope to see more local services joining this plan. Other sectors receiving this deduction include banking, tax, science companies and government institutions,� he said.

Speaking at another recent event, Iran�s Culture Minister Ali Jannati said Iran ranks 18th globally in regard with the most number of domains registered, but from the total number of websites recorded globally, only 0.8% of them are in the Persian language.

�In order to fully utilize the opportunities in the ICT sector, we should invest in content curation and infrastructure,� he said.

Considering the complexities that might bar the full implementation of the scheme, no one can predict to what extent the plan will be successful, therefore all the private actors are monitoring the situation.

By Financial Tribune