State-owned TCI will share its network infrastructure with Mabna Telecom and AsiaTech in compliance with a Communications Regulator Authority mandate that ordered it to open up infrastructure last year.
The announcement follows similar agreements struck with Shatel and HiWeb in early February which were struck under CRA’s “Wholesale Bitstream Access” initiative.
According to ICTNA, director of the local telecom giant Majid Sadri said: “In order to comply with the ombudsman’s July directive, TCI has developed a system for sharing its network with private entities.”
Bitstream access enables telcos to install a high-speed access link to customers’ premises and makes this link available to third parties, enabling them to provide high-speed services to its customers.
TCI has a monopoly in landline telecom infrastructure in Iran, as it has laid fibre-optic cables in several areas in Tehran and other major cities replacing copper cables. And while public funds were used to build and modernise these networks, TCI prevented private ISPs to sell services through the newly laid fibre cables.
