Sattar Hashemi said on Sunday that the government will hold auctions in the coming days on the radio frequencies needed to expand Iran’s 5G network, PressTV reported.
“We hope that this year we can deploy the country’s fifth generation mobile (internet) with a focus on metropolitan areas,” Hashemi told reporters on the sidelines of the annual book fair in Tehran.
He also said Iran has reached an agreement with South Korean authorities to enable 5G options on Samsung phones imported from East Asian countries.
Hashemi later wrote in his X account that expanding the 5G network in Iran was one of the main priorities of the country’s Ministry of Communications.
He said the 5G network will allow Iranian users to enjoy download speeds of up to 500 megabits per second (MBPS).
“…you can learn the true meaning of streaming online services, games and movies,” the minister said.
Iran’s mobile internet speed averaged 37.36 Mbps in May last year, data from the international speed monitoring website.
The same data showed that Iran ranked third and 73rd in the country’s world rankings for mobile internet speeds in May.
Figures released by Iranian telecommunications regulators in August also show that the number of domestic 5G mast sites increased to a total of 1,313 in late March 2024.
MP/