Telecommunication Company of Iran

Telecommunication Company of Iran
Company typePublic
TSE: MKBT1
ISIN: IRO1MKBT0008
IndustryTelecommunications
Founded1971
HeadquartersTehran, Iran
Key people
Majid Soltani (CEO)
Ebrahim Mahmoudzadeh (Chairman)
Number of employees
54,000
SubsidiariesMCI
Websitewww.tci.ir

Telecommunication Company of Iran, or TCI (Persian: شرکت مخابرات ایران, romanized: Sherkat-e Moxaberat-e Iran), is the fixed-line incumbent operator in Iran offering services in fixed telephony, DSL and data services for both residential and business customers, all throughout the country. It was established in 1971 with a new organizational structure as the main responsible administration for the entire telecommunication affairs.

TCI maintains 30 provincial subsidiaries and two brands - MCI (Hamrahe Avval or Mobile Company of Iran) and FCI (Ashenaye Avval or Fixed-line Company of Iran) that provide fixed-line telephone service, data services, mobile services, high-speed internet and soon wireless services. About 99% of the fixed-line telephone subscribers and 61% of the mobile subscribers in Iran belong to TCI's affiliates.

By 2008 TCI employed 38,000 permanent employees—13,500 of which are slated to retire during the next three years—and about 45,000 temporary employees through private subcontractors, which will no longer be used after privatization (March 2009).[1]

On 2016 the Director of TCI announced the merger of its provincial subsidiaries and the MCI into a single business unit that allow to utilize the powerful synergies and maintain leading positions on the national telecoms market.[2]

TCI has utilized equipment and services such as digital switching centers, optical fiber cables, mobile phones, data networks, satellite services, and telephone special services. TCI manufactures more than 80% of the required equipment inside Iran.[3][failed verification]

Iran Telecommunication Industries (ITI) was also founded in the same year to manufacture the required equipment for the national long-distance network. TCI has monopoly over Iran's fixed line infrastructure, and it was until 2010, Iran's largest cellular operator (MCI) and Internet service provider and data communication operator (DCI).[citation needed] As of November 2010, MCI accounts for more than 70% of TCI's profit.[4]

TCI is exporting technical and engineering services, as well as consulting and contracting services. It is also responsible for censoring most of the internet in Iran, as serves as a bottleneck for the monitoring of all communications.[citation needed][5]

  1. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2022-01-21. Retrieved 2009-01-14.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. ^ Azali, MohammadReza (2016-09-14). "The Biggest Telecommunication Merger in Iran Is Happening". TechRasa. Retrieved 2019-05-22.
  3. ^ "Cellphone Import Tariffs Up 600%". Iran Daily. 21 June 2007. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 16 July 2017.
  4. ^ "Iran Investment Monthly" (PDF). Vol. 4, no. 50 (November 2010 ed.). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-11-10. Retrieved 2010-12-22. {{cite magazine}}: Cite magazine requires |magazine= (help)
  5. ^ Aryan, Simurgh, Homa Aryan, and J. Alex Halderman. "Internet censorship in Iran: A first look". Workshop on Free and Open Communications on the Internet.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)