Unfortunately, due to ongoing trade sanctions and contact restrictions, TowerXchange has not been able to directly source or verify tower counts in Iran.
Iran- telecom market statistics Q3 2024
Iran is the Middle East’s largest mobile market with 127.6mn subscribers.
There are three national operators in the country of which MCI (Mobile Communication Company of Iran) is the largest with 61.3mn subscribers and 43% of the market share. MTN-Irancell, a joint
venture in which MTN holds a 49% stake, is Iran’s second largest operator and has invested over US410bn in its network since launching in 2006 reaching 82% national 4G coverage and 5% 4G coverage. MTN Irancell
is also working towards an IPO which is expected to be concluded in 2024 as there was a requirement under Irancell’s concession that the owner would divest a 21% stake via an IPO within 3 years of service launch back in 2016. So far, the government has been unable to
facilitate an IPO.
RighTel is the third largest operator with 9.5mn subscribers and around 8-9% market share. In addition to this there are a number of FCP players and WiMAX operators who make up the balance of the market share.
In 2021 MCI has been rolling out 5G services since 2021, reaching the northern Kurdish region last year. There are currently around 47,000 towers in the Iranian market and
with very little infrastructure sharing between the operators there is a significant degree of parallel infrastructure. In 2014, Fanasia, an Iranian company with a background as a turnkey service provider to the country’s MNOs, started their own towerco business.
Iran - estimated tower ownership Q3 2024
Iranian Towers was launched in 2017 in response to increasing infrastructure sharing in Iran and is jointly owned by the country’s three MNOs. Iranian Towers has been rolling out 4G networks in predominantly urban
areas in coordination with local municipalities who benefit from revenue sharing on these sites. TowerXchange’s last recorded tower count for Iranian towers was around 5,000
with an additional leasing deal with MTN-Irancell and buildto-suit program with MCI but has not been able to provide an updated figure due to contact restrictions.
