Iran’s sole fixed line telephony service provider Telecommunications Company of Iran (TCI) has announced its plans to make investments worth IRR25 trillion (USD20.34 million) during the current Iranian year, which started on 21 March. According to Mostafa Seyyed-Hashemi, Head of the Board of Directors, investment during the previous year rose to IRR17 trillion as a result of the company’s privatisation, with renovation of its mobile phone network as the most important achievement, Iranian Students’ News Agency (ISNA) reported.
According to TeleGeography’s GlobalComms Database, the process of part-privatisation of TCI began in August 2008 when an initial 5% stake valued at USD360 million was floated via an IPO. In October 2008 the government announced plans to sell a second, much larger, share of the company to a strategic investor. The size of the holding was set at 51%: a 35% cap was set for non-nationals in accordance with FDI rules. The winner of the tender was a consortium affiliated to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, known as Etemad-e-Mobin. The group, which includes the Mobin Electronics Development Company, Shahryar Mehestan and Tose’s Etemad Investments, bid USD7.8 billion for a 51% stake in the company.