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Iran to "Privatize" Half of National Communications Company

By Adam Gonn, The Media Line news agency

Iranian consortium, Etemad Mobin Development, has won a bid for 50% of the Iranian state owned telecommunications company.

Following some weeks of uncertainty, Etemad Mobin has finally bought half the Stocks of the Telecommunication Company of Iran.

Until recently the state telecommunications company enjoyed a monopoly over the country's fixed lines, as well as being the largest cell phone, internet and data communication service provider.

Emad Honarparvar, CEO of Modiran Company in Tehran, told The Media Line there was some uncertainty over the deal.

"There were two main rival consortiums bidding for the deal, Etemad Mobin and Pishgaman Kavir Yazd," he said. "Pishgaman is a reputable and well known company in Iran's telecom market, around since 1995, and Etemad Mobin is a newly established company (since 2004) but actually there is a lack of information about this company's portfolio."

"Media sources have said this company has close relations with Iran's Revolutionary Guard, but transparency is a key requirement for Stock bids which is missing here," he commented.

The deal is being seen as part of Iran's wider drive towards privatization, in accordance with criteria set by Iran's present five-year economic plan. Since the second decade of Iran's Islamic Revolution, four five-year plans have been set, of which this present plan is the fourth.

Etemad Mobin Development initially won the tender in September 2009 but the signing of the papers was delayed pending a report by the General Inspectors Organization.

The inspectors organization was established in order to supervise the proper conduct of affairs and the correct implantation of laws by the administrative organs of government.

Employees of the company have voiced some uncertainty and confusion following the recent deal.

"We still don't know what's happening with the company," a source at the Telecommunication Company of Iran, who was not authorized to talk to the media, told The Media Line.

Critics are skeptical about the close ties Etemad Mobin is alleged to have with the Revolutionary Guard - the branch of the military in charge of safeguarding the Islamic Republic.

In addition to approximately 120,000 soldiers and military personnel under its control, the Guard has grown over the years since its establishment after the revolution, to what some have been calling a military-economic conglomerate. Its operations lately have been linked with university laboratories, weapons and car manufacturers.

The Guard's purview expanded since it was tasked with rebuilding the country following the 1980-88 war with Iraq.

During the recent protests following the presidential elections in June 2009, the Revolutionary Guard was at the forefront of quelling the violence.

(c) 2009. The Media Line Ltd. All Rights Reserved.