Communications Minister: The Number of Internet Users in Iran is 9 Million

While the National Internet Development Center previously reported over 40 million internet users in Iran, the Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Mahmoud Vaezi, announced that the number of internet users is 9 million. According to the state news agency IRNA, on Sunday, June 14, Vaezi also stated that the number of internet users before Hassan Rouhani's government was 3 million. Vaezi did not mention the speed of the internet provided to these users or the technologies used for their internet connection, such as DSL or dial-up. He also emphasized that 'before the 11th government, only 200,000 people had access to mobile internet services, but today over 11 million benefit from these services.' Vaezi's statements come as his deputy, Mahmoud Khosravi, reported on Sunday, August 24, 2014, that there were 42 million internet users in Iran. Meanwhile, the National Internet Development Center reported in its latest statistics that there were 40 million and 46 thousand internet users in the first quarter of 2014 and 23 million and 567 thousand subscribers. According to this center, the penetration rate of DSL technology in Iran is currently estimated at 17%, with 5 million and 268 thousand subscribers. Following DSL technology, mobile internet has the highest number of connections in Iran with a penetration rate of about 15%, and currently, 11 million and 69 thousand Iranians connect to the internet via mobile phones. According to these statistics, over 9% of internet users in Iran still connect to the global network using dial-up internet at a speed of about 64 kilobits per second, with an estimated 6 million and 934 thousand users of this technology. Vaezi further stated that the third generation of mobile phones was connected to 220 cities in Iran last year, and this year, the 'transfer' of the fourth generation of mobile phones is on the agenda of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology. He added, 'The internet bandwidth, which was 700 megabits per second at the beginning of the government, has now reached 2,400 megabits per second.' Vaezi has previously promised that internet speed and bandwidth will increase, which has led to reactions from some members of parliament and conservative clerics. On Tuesday, April 14, members of the Iranian parliament were not satisfied with Vaezi's explanations regarding 'the reasons for the development of internet bandwidth without cultural attachments and before the launch of the national information network' and issued him a 'yellow card.' Previously, 10 representatives in a session on July 6, 2014, addressed the Minister of Communications and Information Technology, calling 'bandwidth and lifting filtering' secondary issues and requesting not to focus on these topics. In this context, the internet penetration rate in Iran is '53%.' The telecommunications company claims that the number of internet users in Iran is 29 million. 'Only six percent of Iranian users have high-speed internet.' 'At least 85% of the people' in Iran do not have access to the internet.