TEHRAN - Iran’s Telecoms Minister Issa Zarepour said on Saturday the country is on its way to become a transcontinental transit route for internet traffic as he announces that internet transit through the country has reached 2.5 terabits per second (Tbps).
Zarepour said that internet transit through Iran had doubled in size over the past 10 months.
“This needed technical capability inside the country as well as negotiations and interactions with other countries in order for it to become a successful project,” Zarepour was quoted as saying by the official IRNA news agency.
The minister said Iran aims to reach a target of 5 Tbps in transit capacity to become a regional hub of internet traffic.
“With the progress that took place over this past year we hope we would meet the desired target in the quickest time possible,” he said.
The comments came during an interview that marked one year since Zarepour took over as Iran’s telecoms minister under a new administrative government.
The young minister has set up some ambitious targets for expansion of Iran’s internet infrastructure, including a large-scale optic fiber project that would make broadband internet available to some 20 million customers in Iran by 2025.
He said that the project had made some major progress in recent months as he insisted that expansion of optic fiber will remain a key concern for the Iranian government in the upcoming years.
“I have emphasized several times that the sole remedial action to solve internet problems in the country is to expand optic fiber to homes and businesses,” said Zarepour, adding that some 80% of the households in Iran will have access to optic fiber broadband by 2025.