Based on publicly available data, March was a relatively stable month in terms of network disruptions. However, three incidents took place that affected internet connectivity for some users in Iran and are worth noting.
A fire started in the Telecommunication Infrastructure Company
According to Hamid Fattahi, CEO of the Telecommunication Infrastructure Company (TIC) and Deputy to ICT Minister Eisa Zarepour, some electric issues led to internet disruptions across Tehran and Alborz provinces for a few hours on March 4. As Fattahi said in an interview with IRIB News Agency, a fire erupted in the UPS and power supply systems at one of TIC’s centers following a power outage.”
The Ukraine war impacted connectivity in Iran.
According to IODA data, on March 6, 2022 Iran experienced nationwide internet disruptions due to the loss of 400G of bandwidth through the Europe-Persia Express Gateway (EPEG). EPEG is a high capacity fiber optic cable system which provides additional connectivity between Europe and the Middle East. This fiber optic cable has up to 3.2Tbit/s capacity and with a total length of approximately 10,000 km, EPEG offers route diversity by starting in Frankfurt, Germany and passing through Eastern Europe (including Ukraine), Russia, Azerbaijan, Iran and the Persian Gulf to Barka, Sultanate of Oman.
The disruption, which lasted a little more than 4 hours, can be attributed to a cut in connection with the EPEG cable that passes through Ukraine. Iran’s ICT Minister confirmed the disruption on his Instagram account and, according to the TIC website, this issue was resolved after he issued an order to find alternative routing.
Users continued to experience issues connecting to Instagram
Instagram users continued to experience slow connection speeds as a result of throttling although it was not as bad as last month. Notably, Instagram users experienced connection issues during peak hours (e.g., 6 pm local time).
TIC announced 6 hours of disruptions due to a power outage on March 19th. According to their announcement this only affected local servers and not internet users.
Regional Outages
Golestan, Ardebil, Markazi, Alborz, Khuzestan, Bushehr, and Razavi Khorasan experienced outages during March. Outages predominantly began earlier in the month and then occurred sporadically throughout the month. Affected populations rarely experienced long downtime.
While the following images and graphs provide more details regarding these outages across different regions, we do not have enough information regarding the cause or nature of these outages.
Golestan experienced an exceptional, prolonged outage from March 8 onward.
Markazi province experienced brief outages on March 2, 4 and 16.
Notably, the only day Alborz province did not experience an outage was on March 2.
Razavi Khorasan experienced brief outages from March 1 – 5 and also on March 13.
Bushehr experienced an ongoing outage from March 21 onward.
Khuzestan experienced brief outages for the first 5 days of March and again on March 16.
Ardebil experienced a minor outage on March 1, and short outages on March 6 and 27.
Provider Outages
- AS51469 – Petiak System Co JSC
This is a local internet service provider company in Tehran. The disruptions on their network affected users in Tehran.
- AS48944 – Khalij Fars Ettela Resan Company J.S.
This is a local internet service provider company in Bushehr. The disruptions on their network affected users in Bushehr and Khuzestan.
- AS48309 – Ariana Gostar Spadana (PJSC)
This is a local internet service provider company. The disruptions on their network affected users in Bushehr.
This is a local internet service provider company in Tehran. The disruptions on their network affected users in Hamedan and Tehran.
- AS49100 – Pishgaman Toseeh Ertebatat Company
This AS belongs to an internet service provider. Disruptions on AS49100 affected users in Alborz, Kerman, Isfahan, and Tehran.
- AS56503 – PJSC Badr Rayan Jonoob
This AS belongs to an internet service provider in Khuzestan. Disruptions on AS49100 affected users in Khuzestan.
- AS44400 – Ertebatat Sabet Parsian Co. PJS
A private sector consortium consisting of a total of 140 shareholders, who are among the leading individuals and companies providing communication and telecommunication services nationwide. Disruptions on AS31549 affected users Ilam, Fars, Khuzestan, and Tehran.
- AS200645 – Gilass Rayaneh Sirjan Co (PJS)
This AS belongs to an internet service provider in Tehran. Disruptions on AS49100 affected users in Tehran.
