Iran: Strong Telecom Growth Expected, Despite Political Uncertainties

[tekrati] Despite formidable regulatory and legal hurdles, Iran's telecom market will grow to $12.9 billion by 2014, a CAGR of 6.9 percent, according to a new report from Pyramid Research, the telecom research arm of the Light Reading Communications Network.

From a revenue point of view, Iran is one of the most attractive markets in the Middle East region given its size – by year-end 2009, it was the fourth-largest market in the region at $9.2 billion and is expected to grow to $12.9 billion by 2014 at a CAGR of 6.9 percent, notes Dearbhla McHenry, Senior Analyst at Pyramid Research and author of the report. Regulatory and legal hurdles forbid foreigners from owning majority stakes in telecom companies, and with most of the fixed sector still under the monopoly of the government-owned incumbent, TCI, the Internet sector in particular is still only beginning to enter the growth phase.

"The country's comparatively late introduction of competition means that the market is still in a rapid-growth phase, with the data segment in particular (both fixed and mobile) developing very fast in terms of number of users and amount of use," says McHenry. "We expect data's share of total revenue to double over the next five years, reaching $4.5 billion by 2014; important drivers of new growth in both segments will keep the split between fixed and mobile services steady over the forecast period," continues McHenry. "On the mobile side, Pyramid expects the launch of a third operator to boost adoption and revenue, while on the fixed side, the launch of new WiMax operators will herald the beginning of Iran's broadband era."

Iran: Strong Telecom Growth Expected, Despite Political Uncertainties