Irancell launches at last

Iran’s Ministry of Information, Communications and Technology (MCIT) has confirmed that Irancell has finally launched its first services. The Gulf Times quotes ministry official Masoud Fateh, who said: ‘Distribution of 300,000 SIM cards by Irancell, the first private operator, has started in the cities of Tehran, Mashhad (northeast) and Tabriz (northwest) under the first phase.’ The cellco, which is 49%-owned by MTN of South Africa, was originally due to launch last year and now plans to have operations in 50 cities by the end of the first quarter of 2007.