Iran Initiates the First Phase of the National Information Network

Iran Launched the first phase of its National Information Network during a ceremony attended by the first Vice President. The National Information Network provides new e-government services and helps in cost reduction of internal Internet traffic for Iranians.

The first phase of Iran’s National Information Network got launched after 11 years since the planning during a ceremony in Tehran. The first phase of this project brings various e-government and digital services, access to domestic content such as video services, faster and cheaper bandwidth across the country and a variety of new mobile payment services.

The second phase of Iran’s National Information Network which focuses on the growth of the network is planned to be initiates in February 2017 to bring domestic HD video services with affordable prices to the major cities of the country. It will also bring newly added public electronic services with lower prices than before. The third phase is also planned to be initiated in the next Persian year in order to expand the infrastructure capacities of the project.

During President Rouhani’s administration in the past 3 years, the internet bandwidth saw a significant growth and made positive changes in the country’s tech scene. According to Jahangiri, Iran’s Vice President, the national internet will bring independence and would increase the user’s security over the network. “Many countries have established this network for themselves in order to help them with their national development,” said Iran’s VP during the launch ceremony.

During this ceremony, Iran’s head of ICT Organization stated that the country faced heavy cyber attacks in the past weeks, and that one of the main focuses of the first phase of this project is providing security over the network. “Network stability is a major issue and since over 67% of Internet crimes in the world are in the financial area we have implemented anti-phishing protection over the national network,” said Narsorollah Jahangard, head of the ICT Organization. He also hoped that with the inauguration of this network, the country’s share of domestic traffic would reach to over 40%.