Iran to rollout 5G services in March 2021
Hamrave Aval, operator of the Mobile Company of Iran (MCI), has announced that it will begin its 5G rollout efforts by the 20th of March 2021, as the country began commissioning fifth generation networks in March of 2020.
While details and size of the project remain unknown, the director general of MCI suggested that the company’s 5G program is well underway with a scheduled pilot of the network being on the books soon.
The scheduled pilot will take place in several locations selected within the country’s capital city of Tehran including the Hamrave Aval building, the Milad Tower (one of the tallest towers in the world), the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, the Book Garden, and Tehran University of Shahid Beheshti University.
MCI is the longest-established and biggest mobile operator in Iran, claiming some 65 million subscribers or about 71 percent of the country, with 18 million postpaid and over 47 million prepaid subscribers.
Earlier last year, local media reports highlighted the country experiencing spectrum issues holding up auctions and rollout. Iran’s Telecoms ministry had told reporters that the country might be able to offer implementation – and services – as early as 2021. However, a later report suggested that MCI had been given a deadline of early September 2020 to begin providing 5G coverage in Tehran.
Details over the country’s 5G program remains shrouded, with no detailed action plan being made public.