TEHRAN - Iran’s telecoms
minister Issa Zarepour says more than 91% of Iranian villages with a population of over 20 households have access to the internet via the country’s domestic network.
Zarepour said in a post on his account in the local social media platform Bale on Thursday that internet had been made available to some 3,425 villages across Iran since the current administration took office in August 2020.
“Considering this number of new villages, the statistics on linking villages of above 20 households to the National Information Network (NIN) has increased from 80% in the start of the administration to 91%,” said the minister.
Iran is working fast to expand the NIN as part of efforts to make internet safer, faster and more reliable. The government has encouraged local services and platforms to move their data and servers to the NIN.
Zarepour said many of the villages that were connected to high-speed internet in Iran over the past two years were located in hard-to-reach areas, making it more difficult and more expensive for the government to supply the infrastructure needed for the network.