Hamid Fattahi, the Deputy Minister of Communications and Head of the Regulatory Authority for Communications and Radio, announced in June of this year that last year, power outages caused 10 to 15 percent of operators' communication sites to go offline. This issue highlights the close relationship between electricity supply and the quality of internet services in the country. Fattahi explained that backup batteries are designed to withstand limited outages, and the repeated charging and discharging cycles even wear out renewed batteries. According to him, the country's communication network does not have the capacity to continuously compensate for energy imbalance.
Infrastructure Challenges and Internet Service Quality
This warning comes at a time when Mehdi Masali, the Secretary of the Electricity Industry Syndicate, reported that there are over 114 million fourth-generation broadband subscriptions in the country and believes that the electricity infrastructure is not adequately prepared to meet the needs of this volume of consumption. Subsequently, Setar Hashemi, the Minister of Communications, called in July of this year for communication sites to be prioritized over power outages and emphasized that providing batteries, without ensuring electricity stability, is not sufficient to improve service quality.
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Jahangir Aghazadeh, the Head of the Internet and Data Transfer Commission of the Tehran Guild Organization, has also examined this issue and pointed out the difference in the status of wireless and fixed internet during power outages. He stated that in wireless internet, when the power to the BTS is cut, a battery should ideally come online for a specified period to keep the site stable. However, with frequent outages, there is not enough time for the battery to fully charge, which reduces the battery's efficiency.
Consequences of Power Outages for Users and Businesses
Aghazadeh, detailing the consequences of frequent outages and the decline in service quality, noted that when a site goes offline, users are transferred to the nearest telecommunications sites. This sudden transfer can lead to reduced bandwidth and a decline in user experience. As a result, users feel that their internet speed has suddenly dropped, while the cause of this decline is the power outage and the offline status of a site.
Aghazadeh also pointed out the investment challenges in this area and added that replacing conventional batteries with lithium batteries requires heavy investment. He stated that given the tariff levels and the low income of operators, securing such capital is difficult. This situation is particularly challenging for internet operators that do not have a good financial standing.
He concluded by emphasizing the need for smart electricity distribution management and offered suggestions for prioritizing sensitive centers such as hospitals and communication networks. According to Aghazadeh, in emergency situations, vulnerable points can be identified using white lists to minimize damage to the communication network.
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