2.3 External Internet Connectivity

Currently external Internet connectivity is provided exclusively through satellite links. Iran's major external internet connections are as follows:

• IPM: Currently IPM has a full duplex, symmetric 512 kbps to Burum, The Netherlands. This line will be upgraded soon to 512 Mbps transmit, 1.544 Mbps (T1) receive.

• DPI: Data Processing of Iran currently has a 256 kbps full duplex, symmetric connection to Burum, The Netherlands. This connection will be upgraded soon to 512 kbps. DPI also supports about 70 corporate entities and organizations through California-Subic-Bay-Iran Digital Video Broadcast DVB-MPEG2 simplex (receive only) satellite terminals with bandwidth of 200 kbps for each connection.

• DCI: The Data Communication company of Iran now has three links to the Internet: a satellite link via Teleglobe and Intelsat 342.5 $^{\mbox{o}}$E to Canada; a 256 kbps satellite link via Intelsat 006 $^{\mbox{o}}$E to a Point of Presence (POP) in Kuwait operated by GulfSat, a joint venture of the Kuwait Ministry of Communications and Hughes Network Systems (USA); and a 2 Mbps satellite link via Eutelsat 010 $^{\mbox{o}}$E to NetSat in France (see Fig. 2.2).

  
  

    

  Figure 2.2: Iran's National IP Network

  
  
  

  The Teleglobe link was installed during Phase I of the Iran National IP Project (IranNet) and replaces a link to Interlog, in Ontario, Canada, that used the X.75 protocol, having originally been established to support international communications via Iranpac (see Fig. 2.3).

  
  

    

  Figure 2.3: Teleglobe Project

  
  
  

  Although the X.75 link was very slow (9.6 kbps), it offered the advantage of being relatively inexpensive. The bandwidth of the current link was not reported, although there is a 2 Mbps link between one of IranNet's two gateway routers and the Boumehen earth station near Tehran where the Teleglobe link terminates. DCI's link to GulfSat was installed during Phase II of the IranNet project, and provides connections via GulfSat's VSAT hub near Kuwait City, but subscriptions cost IR 5 million per month on top of a US $30,000 set-up fee. The newest link, to Paris-based NetSat/SDCV, was added during 1998 and provides the highest-speed connection to the Internet (see Fig. 2.4).

  
  

    

  Figure 2.4: Gulfsat Project

  
  
  

• IRIB: Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting currently has a 2 Mbps full duplex, symmetric connection from The Netherlands to Tehran. However, this line soon will be downgraded to 1 Mbps due to mounting expenses.

• MFA: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs currently has a 64 kbps full duplex, symmetric, and encrypted connection through Kuwait-Canada-Tehran, serving secure communication needs with Iranian diplomatic missions abroad.

• ISC: Informatic Services Company has a 256 kbps full duplex, symmetric connection through Kuwait-Canada-Tehran.

• ISIRAN: Information Systems of Iran has a 256 kbps full duplex, symmetric connection through Kuwait-Canada-Tehran.

• Sirjan Special Economic Zone: is a semi-free zone at Sirjan and has a 256 kbps full duplex, symmetric connection to Finland.

• Others: There are more than a dozen other receive only links of DVB-MPEG2 simplex type to other companies and institutions with download speeds of 200-400 kbps, and uploads of 56 kbps via a v.90 modem.

Growth in the number and bandwidth of external links has been better during the past couple of years since President Khatami's election, and more links are expected to be operational in the near future.