Irancell launched?

Iran’s second GSM network has launched, with Irancell beginning operations in the city of Tabriz. The announcement was made by Iran’s Minister of Defence, Mostafa Mohammad-Najjar, according to Cellular News, although a conflicting report from the Tehran Times suggests that full commercial services will not be switched on until later this year. Irancell’s main shareholder, MTN of South Africa, which has a 48% stake, says it is planning to have coverage of six cities by the end of 2006, by which time it hopes to have signed up a million customers. It is targeting 16 million subscribers within 15 years.