Communications

Overview

Most phases of telecommunications services are controlled by the state Telecommunications Company of Iran (TCI). Between 1995 and 2003, the number of telephone land lines increased from 86 to 146 per 1,000 population. In 2003 the ratio of telephone subscribers was 271 per 1,000 population. A large-scale modernization program, backed by heavy state investment, has aimed at improving and expanding urban service and reaching rural areas that lack telephone service. In 2005 an estimated 10 percent of Iran’s population (68 million) had mobile telephone service through one mobile network, which was heavily congested and had a long waiting list. Despite the need for another network, in 2005 the Iranian parliament forced the Turkish company Turkcell to withdraw from a potential mobile phone consortium, in the process damaging Iranian-Turkish relations. Mobile Telephones Network of South Africa then accepted Iran’s stringent licensing conditions and replaced Turkcell in late 2005. Internet use expanded rapidly in the early 2000s from an estimated 250,000 users in 1999 to an estimated 7 million users in 2004. The Telecommunications Company of Iran estimated that Iran will have 25 million Internet users by 2009. In 2005 some 12 major certified Internet service providers (ISPs) were in operation. However, the state filtered Internet content intensively.

Mass Media

The constitution guarantees freedom of the press, provided that published material complies with Islamic principles. Freedom of speech is not guaranteed. In 1997 and 1998, the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance relaxed regulations for publishing licenses and issued several hundred licenses, which led to the emergence of scores of new newspapers and journals, most of which promoted reformist causes. Conservatives reacted by suing individual papers and publishers for libel, and in the year 2000 succeeded in getting the Press Court to suspend, temporarily or permanently, several dozen newspapers. However, reformist publications continue to express views on many contentious issues. The newspapers with the largest circulation are published in Tehran and include the conservative Jomhuri-e Islami, Keyhan, and Resalat. Among notable reformist newspapers closed by the Press Court in the early 2000s were Shargh and Yas-e Now. The state news service is the Islamic Republic News Agency, which publishes the English-language Iran Daily. Several foreign news agencies maintain offices in Tehran, including Agence France Press, Anadolu Ajansı, ITAR-TASS, Reuters, and Tsinhua. Radio 1 in Tehran is the most powerful radio station. Radio and television broadcasting is controlled by the state’s Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting company. In 2002 an estimated 13 million radios and 7 million television sets were in use. An estimated 1 million satellite dishes are in use to receive international broadcasts, although they are forbidden and jamming has occurred. In 2003 the government assigned a commission to monitor Internet news sites.

Source: Library of Congress – Federal Research Division Country Profile