The Iran Telecommunications Company plans to connect 800,000 users to its fiber optic network for homes and businesses by the end of 2024. According to the company’s network deputy, as of now, 360,000 services have been activated and assigned.
In a meeting of the company’s managers, Reza Khalili, the deputy of the network division, announced that 800,000 users will be connected to the fiber optic network by the end of 2024, and added: “So far, we have provided 360,000 services, and our plan for this year is to establish 500,000 new connections. According to the Radio Regulatory Organization’s system, 92% of these connections are attributed to Iran Telecommunications Company. There are two statistics in this system: one for 380,000 connections related to FTTH (Fiber To The Home) and another for 550,000 connections related to VDSL. The majority of VDSL services have been provided by our company.”
Rasoul Ali-Asgarpour, the manager of the North Khorasan Telecommunications, explained that connecting users is the most challenging part of establishing the FTTH service due to the associated costs and the direct interaction with customers. The company has collaborated with the Engineering and Housing Organization to ensure that new buildings are equipped with fiber from the start.
Ali-Asgarpour highlighted the advantage of the company’s extensive maintenance network and technical infrastructure across the country, stating: “Telecommunications has developed packages to allow users with existing copper cables to use fiber optics for free. Some features are unique to our company, such as offering all services on an installment basis since we issue bills to customers. Additionally, we now provide packages that include service, modem, and internal installation without requiring upfront payment from the customers, allowing for post-payment.”
Majid Soltani, CEO of Iran Telecommunications Company, discussed the increase in the company’s operational revenue over the past three years. He stated: “The operational revenue of Iran Telecommunications Company was 8.5 trillion tomans at the end of 2019 and reached 21.5 trillion tomans in 2024. The company saw significant growth in revenue, while the increase in costs was more moderate compared to the rise in revenue.”
He added: “However, the company has still not reached the break-even point in the fixed sector. Despite our extensive efforts, the costs imposed by various organizations, inflation, and revenue increases have prevented us from reaching this point.”
Regarding the company’s 60 trillion toman investment, Soltani said: “Iran Telecommunications Company invested 60 trillion tomans in the fixed and mobile sectors over the past three years. Despite facing financial challenges, the company has not halted its development efforts. The majority of this investment has benefited the government, as we have paid approximately the same amount in fees for mobile and fixed sectors to the government, indicating that the company has been a revenue source for the state.”
Soltani explained the reasons for the company’s failure to reach the break-even point:
“Iran Telecommunications Company has not reached the break-even point due to the regulator’s shortcomings. Issues related to employees and retirees have arisen due to the regulator’s negligence. According to the law in 2024, three main issues were to be addressed: first, the announcement of commercial tariffs. In Iran, domestic tariffs are the same as commercial tariffs, which is not the case elsewhere where commercial tariffs are significantly higher. Although this issue was recognized by the market regulation committee, it was not acted upon when passed to the Ministry of Communications and the regulator, resulting in a 1,800 billion toman loss for the company in 2024.”
He continued: “The adjustment of LSS (Local Loop Service) tariffs, which was a legal right for the company, is another issue. The rent paid by private companies for the cable from the telecommunications center to homes was set at 1,000 tomans per subscriber per month based on the 2003 law. Despite a revenue of 8,000 tomans per subscriber at that time, only 1,000 tomans was paid to Iran Telecommunications Company. Currently, with a revenue of 150,000 tomans per subscriber, companies still pay only 1,000 tomans, leading to a 1,000 billion toman loss for us in 2024.”
Regarding the third issue, Soltani said: “According to the regulator’s own decree in April 2024, our data package rates were communicated to the regulator and were lower than those of other companies. However, this was deliberately blocked, causing a 1,200 billion toman loss for the company.”
Soltani emphasized: “We need a fundamental leap and transformation in infrastructure and service delivery in both mobile and fixed sectors. Although development is ongoing, an investment of 60 trillion tomans (1 billion USD) is not excessive given the country’s size and dispersed population.”
He also discussed the company’s development plans: “The transformation plan for Iran Telecommunications Company’s network, which involves updating both mobile and fixed sectors, is a clear plan. We are preparing it for each province. In this plan, we commit to covering two-thirds of the costs, with one-third being initially funded by the government.”
In response to a question about the approval of Iran Telecommunications Company’s capital increase, Soltani said: “We have completed all the steps for capital increase, but unfortunately, the stock exchange has conditioned our capital increase on approval from the privatization organization. The economic situation is clear, and consequently, the situation of large companies is also evident. We should not exaggerate their problems.”
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