{"id":2246,"date":"2020-04-03T16:35:30","date_gmt":"2020-04-03T16:35:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/filter.watch\/en\/?p=2246"},"modified":"2020-06-23T11:49:36","modified_gmt":"2020-06-23T11:49:36","slug":"network-monitor-march-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filter.watch\/english\/2020\/04\/03\/network-monitor-march-2020\/","title":{"rendered":"Network Monitor \u2014 March 2020"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n
\n

Iran was plunged into yet another major crisis in March, with the COVID-19 outbreak spreading rapidly from its epicentre in Qom to villages, towns, and cities across the country. The public health emergency, which according to Iranian authorities has seen 53,183 recorded cases and 3,294 deaths (as of April 3), has resulted in massive social and economic disruption, and the introduction of tight controls on movement.<\/p>\n

This crisis has also had a number of implications for citizens\u2019 ability to get online and access information, though this appears to be largely due to strains on network infrastructure, as internet service providers (ISPs) struggle to cope with increased demand brought about by widespread remote working.<\/p>\n

Iran\u2019s network disruptions this month seem to have been largely attributable to two issues:<\/p>\n

1- Online streaming has increased dramatically<\/strong><\/p>\n

Slow connection speeds were the main issues faced by users during March. As the government has advised citizens to stay home in order to combat the spread of COVID-19, Internet usage \u2014 and especially online streaming \u2014 has increased dramatically. According to\u00a0Etemad Online<\/em>,\u00a0internet usage increased by 40%<\/a>\u00a0in the first week after COVID-19 started spreading in Iran.<\/p>\n

In an effort to keep people at home, Iran\u2019s ICT Ministry granted all home subscribers\u00a0100GB of free internet<\/a>\u00a0access, a very heavy traffic load on the national network.<\/p>\n

Multiple sources from different internet providers in Iran confirmed to Filterwatch that ISPs purposefully slowed internet speeds in order to better cope with high traffic loads. It is likely that traffic loads were further increased as a result of the government\u2019s 100GB giveaway, as users rushed to use their allowance before the offer\u2019s expiry date.<\/p>\n

2- Pre-planned maintenance-related internet shutdowns<\/strong><\/p>\n

Filterwatch received documents relating to planned maintenance-related service disruptions from a source that shall remain anonymous for security purposes. Based on these documents, the Telecommunication Infrastructure Company (TIC) informed ISPs that access to the global Internet would be disrupted during the following periods, while maintenance work was undertaken:<\/p>\n