Nearly 30,000 Iranian villages linked to mobile phone network since 2013: Minister
Iran’s coverage of mobile phone and broadband services for rural areas is expanding rapidly as the government eyes easier access for villagers to online education and other empowering schemes.
Telecom minister Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi said on Monday that more than 29,500 villages across Iran had been connected to the country’s mobile phone network over the past six year.
Azari Jahromi said the figure was more than seven times the total number of villages that had access to mobile phones services before incumbent president Hassan Rouhani took office in August 2013.
Meanwhile, the minister said more than 30,000 villages across Iran were now connected to the country’s national information network, a major success compared to six years ago when the access to the network was introduced to the rural areas for a first time.
“Today, some 30,799 villages, or 78 percent of the villages of the country, are connected to the national information network,” said Azari Jahromi, adding that linking the 3,825 remaining villages would be accomplished based on schedule.
He said that the expansion of the secure broadband service to villages across Iran had enabled the government to integrate over 19,000 schools and more than 17,000 local health booths through the network while allowing the rural population to enjoy better services in those sectors.
Facing with a sharp decline in rural population over the past decade, Iran has accelerated offering utility services that could improve living standards in villages and revive defunct agricultural projects.
Iran’s minister of energy said on Monday that 99.7 percent of villages across the country had been electrified and around two thirds of them had now access to piped water.
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