History of the Internet in Iran

History of the Internet in Iran

Etemad (Persian Morning Daily)
Saturday, Jan 18, 03, Vol. 1, No. 182
Page: 6

Iranians became familiar with the `Internet` phenomenon some eight years ago. A physics and mathematics institute pioneered the technology. Beyond expectations, Internet dug its way into Iranian homes speedily. Years before the advent of the Net, Iranian households were packed with home PCs waiting for the online technology to mushroom.

Once introduced into Iran, the Internet spread across the country like wildfire. Now even those living in remote cities can enjoy browsing the web. The number of Internet surfers is increasing day by day and is already in the millions while the leading domestic newspapers have a daily circulation of merely between 200,000 and 250,000; not many papers have outnumbered this circulation in recent years. As a result, Internet appears to have gained a foothold in Iran with no end in sight.

Text: Iranians became familiar with the 'Internet` phenomenon some eight years ago. A physics and mathematics institute pioneered the technology. Beyond expectations, Internet dug its way into Iranian homes speedily. Years before the advent of the Net, Iranian households were packed with home PCs waiting for the online technology to mushroom.

In its early years, Internet used to dig deep in one's pockets due to the low number of users and high cost of access networks. With demand increasing for the web prices slumped. Today Iran may have the highest number of Internet access / users in the region.

The astronomical rise in web use in Iran is in line with the dramatic changes and developments taking place within the Iranian society.

In the 1990s, the post-revolution restrictions gradually loosened and the net provided easy access to the world.

The technology primarily serving research institutes, universities and business nerve centers trod the political arena first in 1997 when the two leading candidates for the presidency set up their own websites to launch a campaign. Iranian expatriates, on the other hand, had previously pioneered political, cultural and economic websites.

Access Routes

Typical net surfers in the country log on the net largely through dial-up services. The most readily established connections occur on prepaid Internet cards. An Internet card bears a username and a password. Once the two are typed at the proper window gaps, the user can log on to the net with his PC connected to a telephone line.

The process requires no perquisite registration or software installation as Windows OS wizards can set up the connection.

The cards provide Internet access for a limited period of time. Those released in Iran offer 10 hours plus services. Credit-terminated cards can be replaced simply with new ones bought at bookshops, CD stores and newsstands. Those providing 10-hour access cost 25,000 to 50,000 rial (3 to 6 dollars). In other words, you can surf on the net at prices as cheap as 2,500 rial plus (31 cents) per hour. It is affordable for the majority of urban population, home PC owners in particular, in light of other bulky living expenses.

On the plus side, the cards never give away the identity of final users so that no cyber-system can identify the surfers. The advantage also allows users to browse the net unrestrained and unconcerned about the repercussions provided their target URLs (Universal Resource Locators) are not applied firewalls.

There are more options to get your hand on the web including registering with Internet Service Providers (ISP). Thus, an ISP could record and detect every URL visited by surfers. Being the only hook-up route until a few years ago, the technology is now rather out of date and less popular than net cards.

As in many other countries, cafe-nets can also cater to web users, several months ago the IRI Police shut down a great number of them. Still a host of them are serving net fans throughout the country. Cafi-nets formerly caught on thanks to their offer of cheap international phone calls. The phone service is still available in some. Besides, e-mailing - especially to get in touch with international partners - grew on Iranians in a flash.

The Internet has established an undemanding and prompt way for the people of Iran to get loads of data. Searching for different topics on the net is commonly practiced by the educated classes. People know very well that the Internet can furnish answers to most of their queries concerning scientific and political issues, or the immigration laws of foreign countries.

Internet fever has caught on in Iran and people from all walks of life have found that the new millennium with its awe-inspiring inventions such as the information superhighway can be widely used for diverse applications.

Judiciary and the Internet

Even though it has declared that the press law also applies to websites, the Judiciary has yet to draw up practical procedures to crack down on Internet offences. The political camps, whose affiliated newspapers had been previously closed down by the judiciary, started their webzines (electronic newspapers) known as 'rooz-net'. For the time being, launching rooz-nets need no formal permits. A huge number of surfers visit these rooz-nets on a regular basis.

Impact of Internet on Iran

Despite its traditional society, the Internet is an influential media in Iran due to her net-oriented educated young generation. Since Iranian net surfers whose influence on family is far-reaching are usually well educated, the electronic information dissemination facilities sweeping through the country ever increasingly. Families have their children learn English as an inevitable factor to an efficient employment of the net.

The net is packed with hundreds of Iranian online groups. Utilizing web tools. Some offer voice chat services and online radios. An administrator usually runs the radios and most of the programs are presented on the websites for their audience. A number of the sites conduct forums attended by dozens of people discussing topics of interest. Some are also invited as an audience. As an incredible upside to the services, they are live and interactive.

Prospects of Internet in Iran

Once introduced into Iran, the Internet spread across the country like wildfire. Now even those living in remote cities can enjoy browsing the web. The number of Internet surfers is increasing day by day and is already in the millions while the leading domestic newspapers have a daily circulation of merely between 200,000 and 250,000; not many papers have outnumbered this circulation in recent years. As a result, Internet appears to have gained a foothold in Iran with no end in sight.

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