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By Joseph Braud

Continued growth of Internet use in Iran is putting strains on the country’s public switched telephone network, while heightened demand for mobile lines far exceeds supply. These and other pressures stand to force the hand of the Telecommunications Company of Iran (TCI) in its plans to liberalize. Voices in TCI call for a limiting of the government’s control over the telecoms sector and the company’s evolution into a regulator. Iran’s new minister of communications and information technology has set the ambitious target of 10m GSM subscribers, 20m fixed lines and 15m Internet users by the end of the country’s third five-year development plan, around 2005...more...

Analyst: Fereydoun Taslimi

A team from a developing country with no previous experience participates for the first time and becomes the world champion in Robotics.

The little girl couldn’t have been more than 7 years old. Standing between two tables covered with a pile of parts, her small hands were searching for the pieces to complete her small robot. I turned to my wife and said "how are countries like Iran going to catch up with this country when this is the type of facility they offer their young kids?" This was Robocup 2001, a robotics contest-taking place at the Seattle convention center. The facility with several hundred thousand square feet of space had become home to hundreds of young visionaries from over 23 countries participating in various leagues....more...