TEHRAN – Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Minister Seyyed Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi inaugurated four projects valued at 1.840 trillion rials (about $43 million) in northwestern West Azarbaijan province on Tuesday, IRNA reported.

In the month of Shahrivar last year (August 21-September 21, 2018), about 200 kilometers of the roads did not have telecommunication coverage, which had faced rescue and relief services on roads with difficulty, Azari Jahromi said.        

The ministry has upgraded 1200 telecommunications towers by equipping 200 towers with 3G and 4G internet and 1000 towers with 2G internet, he explained.

To date, 70 percent of the 200km roads have come under the coverage of internet, he noted.

Prior to the inauguration ceremony, President Hassan Rouhani said that Iran needs information and communication technology in order to boost telecommunication and job creation, and introduce its tourism potentials and handicrafts.

“According to statistics, 20 villages have been linked with the National Information Network over the past two years, which is very notable.”

Earlier this week, Jahromi announced that over 7,200 villages are linked with the National Information Network across the country with a total budget of 4 trillion rials (about $95 million), aimed to provide infrastructures for ICT development and access of all people to basic services of ICT.

Up to now, 80 percent of rural areas are under ICT coverage. The plan is composed of four electronic services including banking, medical, educational and agricultural systems, which would be available in villages with more than 20 families.

The projects cut the digital gap between rural and urban areas to half, he said.

During the Iranian calendar year of 1396 (March 2017-March 2018) the urban data usage was 5.9 gigabytes, while the number was 600 megabytes in rural areas, however the figure has reached 2.9 gigabytes in villages, he explained.

The first phase of e-government services project in Iran officially came on stream under the title of ‘Mobile Government’ in mid-May 2018.

The project aims to facilitate some government services, reduce unnecessary expenses and ease traffic jam, which is the main cause of air pollution in big cities.

It is based on the National Information Network, an ongoing project to develop a secure and stable infrastructure network in the country.          

SB/MG