Every week we’ll be bringing you the highlights of Iran’s tech scene in the past week. This week, we covered Samsung mobile phones’ registry postponement, 650 million dollar facilities dedicated to knowledge-based companies, game developers’ huge contribution and free internet in museums and historical places in the country.

Protests Against Postponing Samsung Mobile Phones’ Registry

Last week Iranians started to protest and criticize government’s decision to postpone the registry of Samsung mobile phones in the country on Twitter.

Till now Apple, Motorola, BlackBerry, Google Pixel and LG have been included in the list of “mobile phones registry scheme” in Iran. And officials gave their word that this list will be completed till the end of the Iranian year. However, when last week the regulatory announced other brands of mobile phones which will soon go through the registry process, one big name was missing. Samsung, which owns half of this market was said to be registered after the Nowrouz holidays. This immediately enraged some Iranians who believe this measure is backing up Samsung in their new year’s sales.

The Minister of ICT responded to these protests: “Because of owning 50% of the Iranian market, it’s necessary to stabilize the conditions and prevent negative effects on final consumers till the last days of the year. Therefore the registry will be postponed till after the Nowrouz holidays.”

Related: Value of Imported Mobile Phones into Iran Reaches 342 Million USD

650 Million Dollar Facilities Have Been Dedicated to Knowledge-Based Companies  

According to Mehr News, Sorena Sattari, Vice President for Science and Technology, sent a letter to Masoud Karbasian, Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance, and Valiollah Seif, Governor of the Central Bank of Iran, appreciating their sincere efforts for dedicating 3500 billion Tomans (about 750 million dollars) to knowledge-based companies ensuring their development in the near future.

Related: Iran Swiftly Moving Towards a Knowledge-Based Economy – Part 1

Growth of Knowledge-Based Companies in Iran

Video Game Developers Own 30% of All the Developers’ Revenue

According to Tasnim, the Minister of ICT has announced on his Twitter page that 4% of mobile software developers in Iran are in the field of video games. However this 4% has dedicated 30% of the overall revenue of mobile developers to itself. He also mentioned that according to a report by the biggest Iranian android app store in this January, this rate is even higher in contributing jobs. This report shows that this industry contributes 20,000 jobs directly and even more indirectly.

Museums and Historical Places to Have Free Internet 

Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization of Iran signed an agreement with the Ministry of ICT to provide free internet in all museums and historical places across the country.

Ali Asghar Mounesan, the head of Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization thanked the ICT Minister for his cooperation considering country’s priority in the field of tourism.

Related: Public WiFi Is Now Available in 66 Spots Across Iran