Some Municipalities Obstructing Fiber Optic Expansion, Says Iran Telecom CEO
Jafarpoor went on to criticize the profit-driven approach of some local governments.
Latest from Interview
Mohammad Jafarpoor, CEO of the Telecommunication Company of Iran, has raised concerns about delays in the national fiber optic rollout, citing a lack of cooperation from certain municipalities. In an interview with ISNA, Jafarpoor criticized local authorities for prioritizing revenue from excavation fees over supporting a critical national infrastructure project.
Highlighting the urgency of the fiber optic initiative, Jafarpoor called the lack of municipal coordination the biggest obstacle facing the project. “With the growing demand for internet services—especially video streaming—ADSL can no longer meet users' needs,” he said. “We’re working to transition all customers to the fiber network to ensure high-speed internet access for both households and businesses.”
According to Jafarpoor, the country’s core communications infrastructure is in good shape and should not be blamed for current internet speed limitations. He noted that while international bandwidth capacity is also sufficient, access times to foreign services are inevitably affected by geographical distance, with data center delays ranging from 60 to 150 milliseconds.
He also pointed to the heavy reliance on foreign content as a contributing factor to network challenges. “A significant portion of our issues stem from this dependency,” he explained. “Strengthening domestic digital content is essential to overcoming it.”
Jafarpoor went on to criticize the profit-driven approach of some local governments. “Unfortunately, rather than supporting this national project, some municipalities are focused solely on monetizing excavation permits, which has become the biggest barrier to fiber optic development,” he said.
He concluded by emphasizing that expanding fiber optics to homes and businesses is the only sustainable solution. “It’s the only way to relieve pressure on the mobile network. We’re ready to invest—but success depends on full cooperation from all stakeholders, especially municipalities.”
