Minister of Communications: Thinking of the State Treasury or Service?
While analysts say that the reason for the increase in internet service tariffs is not network development and that the government profits from it, the Minister of Communications, without mentioning government revenues and inflation, attributed the price hike to network upgrades. Isa Zarepour, Minister of Communications and Information Technology, said on Wednesday, January 3, after a cabinet meeting, regarding the increase in internet prices in Iran, ‘We were compelled to implement a price increase considering the network conditions so that we can enhance the network quality.’
Zarepour added, ‘To encourage people to register their numbers and use the expensive internet, a gift package including 12 gigabytes of domestic traffic or its equivalent of five gigabytes of international traffic has been considered.’ After murmurs in recent weeks, the media of the Islamic Republic reported on Thursday, January 7, that internet prices in Iran have increased by at least 30%. Some media also wrote that the internet has become 34% more expensive.
Previously, the Minister of Communications and Information Technology had announced that the internet price hike would only be approved if operators committed to improving network quality. Based on this, the CEOs of the operators accepted conditions such as increasing fifth-generation sites to 10% by the end of 2024, increasing fourth-generation coverage in the country to 96% by the end of 2024, and a 30% increase in average internet speed in the next six months.
It was decided that if the conditions are not met on time, penalties would be imposed on the operators. Following the announcement of at least a 30% increase in internet prices, the Young Journalists Club affiliated with the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting stated that tariffs have tripled instead of increasing by 30%. The specialized technology and communications site, Digiato, also wrote that investigations show a one-month, one-gigabyte package in Irancell and Hamrah Aval has increased from 10,500 tomans to 14,100 tomans, a 34% price increase.
The Minister of Communications claims network upgrades are being made, while Navid Aghaei, a cyberspace analyst, told the Iranian Labor News Agency (ILNA) on Wednesday, January 3, that no matter the reason for increasing internet service tariffs, it is not for network development. The operators themselves said if prices are not immediately increased by 100%, they will go bankrupt. Now, how do they want to update the network with about a 30% tariff increase?
Aghaei added, ‘The government benefits from increasing internet prices in the country. This price increase is happening while policymakers are well aware of the crippling economic pressure on people, but their main priorities lie elsewhere.’
According to this analyst, the discussion of service quality is a joke because, specifically in the telecommunications company, user dissatisfaction has gone beyond complaints, and retirees of this company gather every day in one place to claim their demands.
The main communication service companies in Iran have no serious competitors and currently say if prices do not rise, they will go bankrupt. Aghaei said it’s not just about tariffs; billions are spent on subsidiary companies, creating monopolies for them, and they still fail. Jalil Rahimi Jahanabadi, representative of Torbat-e Jam in the Islamic Consultative Assembly, considered the 30% internet price increase to be unaccounted for and warned that this issue creates discontent among the people on the eve of elections.
Jabar Koochakinejad Aram Sadati, representative of Rasht in the Islamic Consultative Assembly, also criticized the increase in internet usage tariffs, saying, ‘While the government resists increasing salaries, it has increased internet prices by 30% and more.’ According to him, ‘The internet has become more than 30% more expensive while salaries have increased by 18%.’
On Tuesday, January 2, Mehdi Rouhani-Nejad, Deputy of Strategy and Market Development of the Regulatory and Radio Communications Organization, attributed the increase in internet tariffs to rising inflation and said, ‘Various reviews were conducted on how to calculate the tariff increase, but the inflation rate was very important for us so that what is approved is close to the inflation rate.’ According to Rouhani-Nejad, operators’ requests in this regard were made last year, and the implemented resolutions belong to 2017, and no price changes have occurred over the years.
The internet price has increased while the governing laws on the internet in Iran severely restrict access to the internet worldwide, and people always use VPNs to visit websites.
The non-governmental organization Freedom House, in its annual report in October 2023, announced that Iran had the largest decline in the internet freedom index worldwide in 2023 with a five-point drop on a 100-point scale compared to 2022, and digital suppression has intensified. The Philippines, Belarus, Costa Rica, and Nicaragua followed Iran in experiencing the most significant decline in this index. The Islamic Republic of Iran has also been pursuing the creation of a national internet for years to increase these restrictions and solidify control over this internet.
