NCRI – Vast swathes of Iran are suffering a massively reduced Internet service ahead of the June presidential election – when the regime is panicking over a possible mass public uprising
Many areas have complained of a very slow or disconnected service – and complete lack of access to many websites for more than two months.
The Telecommunication Infrastructure Company has blamed the interruptions and poor service on problems with cables from Sweden, and pledged that the problem will soon be resolved.
The state-run Mehr news agency reported on April 30: “Some Internet users are deprived of minimum internet services and have no access to major websites.”
Internet service providers also have no answer to the online chaos, with some blaming it on discriminatory allocation of bandwidths to certain districts.
An official from the Communications Regulatory Authority said: “ISPs have given this organization letters about this and we are looking into it.
More than 45 million people in Iran have access to internet, or around 60% of the country’s population, according to the latest official statistics.
Iran has more than 150 Internet Service Providers or companies advertising themselves as such. Many of these services have been privatized since 2009 but that does not mean they have become independent of the regime. The leading ones are still linked to the government and all are accountable to it. This biggest one is owned by the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC).
Internet connection speed has become an indicator of the political situation and the government alert level. On the eve of dates or anniversaries that could give rise to demonstrations, the connection speed is slowed right down to prevent the circulation of photos and videos.
In the 2009 uprising, many protesters used the internet to send video footage outside the country, prompting the regime to paralyse online services to prevent news reaching the outside world.
