Suspension of 128 Kbps Internet Service and Increase in Internet Costs in Tehran

The Telecommunications Company of Tehran Province has stopped selling unlimited internet service at a speed of 128 Kbps in the province and has also increased some internet costs. Kamran Kazemi, the commercial deputy of the Telecommunications Company of Tehran Province, announced this news at the beginning of the current week on the company's official website. Mr. Kazemi stated that 'the unlimited internet service of the Telecommunications Company of Tehran Province will be offered to new applicants at speeds of 1, 2, and 4 Mbps.' The 'Daneshjoo News Agency' also reported on January 21 that the sale of internet services limited to 128 Kbps has been halted by internet companies for two or three years. According to this news agency, 'those who considered themselves verbally committed to enforcing the unwritten law of the 128 Kbps limit were secretly offering services with higher capacities.' The 'Daneshjoo News Agency' mentioned the Telecommunications Company as one of the companies that 'complied with this law (128K limit) as long as there was behind-the-scenes pressure to adhere to it.' In its latest decision, the Telecommunications Company has kept the prices of internet services at speeds of 256 and 512 Kbps stable. The company has increased the price of internet at a speed of 1024 Kbps to 33,150 Tomans for prepaid and 44,150 Tomans for postpaid. The price of internet at a speed of 2048 Kbps has also increased to 53,860 Tomans for prepaid and 73,860 Tomans for postpaid. This price increase comes at a time when Davood Zareian, the spokesperson for the Iranian Telecommunications Company, announced on November 13 the suspension of internet sales in six provinces due to 'liquidity and debt problems.' Telecommunications Company managers have been calling for an increase in telecommunications tariffs for years, but the government of Hassan Rouhani stated that increasing tariffs is not the policy of the new government and opposes this request. Mahmoud Vaezi, the Minister of Communications, stated in August of this year that 'the eleventh government will not under any circumstances accept an increase in the prices of services provided to the people without logical reasoning and justification.' The Telecommunications Company and its subsidiaries have also announced that due to this opposition, they have entered a phase of 'loss-making' and are unable to pay their debts.