Minister: All Iranian Villages with Over 20 Households to Join NIN by March

All Iranian villages housing over 20 households will join the National Information Network (NIN) by the end of 1399 (March 2020-21), said the minister of information and communications technology. Mohammad-Javad Azari Jahromi made the remarks on Saturday in an address to a ceremony to mark the national achievement of providing 1,034 villages with access to the NIN, IRNA reported. He added as stipulated in 6th Development Plan (March 2017-2022), the Ministry of Information and Communications Technology is required to connect 90% of villages with over 20 households to the NIN.

In 2013, a very insignificant number of villages had access to the network, the minister said, adding that currently, 90% of Iranian rural areas have joined the NIN thanks to efforts by those involved in the sector, said Azari Jahromi. He noted that 1,034 villages have been connected to the NIN with US$72.85 million in investments.

Azari Jahromi said in the aftermath of the coronavirus outbreak in Iran (mid-February), the Internet and the NIN helped provide entertainment for people, save a large number of businesses and promote health. Development of the digital economy is contingent on the expansion of the NIN, which will help boost employment for the youth and make life more convenient for people, he added, according to iribnews.ir. Another advantage of a developed digital economy is greater transparency and less corruption, the minister said.

He noted that MTN Irancell, Iran’s second-largest mobile phone operator, has managed to put in a convincing performance and be a pioneer in this field by providing young people with the opportunity to be more involved in the development of the domestic economy. This operator accounts for a major part of the growth experienced by the country’s digital economy in the field of startups, the minister stressed. Speaking at the same ceremony, MTN Irancell’s CEO Bijan Abbasi Arand said the operator has 51 million subscribers and provides services in over 17,000 villages across the country.

“The company was established with US$8 billion in investments and has created 2,300 direct and 70,000 indirect jobs. It is currently cooperating with 30,000 new technology-based firms.”
He put the company’s share of Iran’s digital economy at US$3.57 billion. - Iran Daily