Connected in Iran

Zia Daniell Wigder | May 07, 2007, 03:26 PM

Most people at Jupiter know I have a strong interest in Iran - I find both the history and the dichotomies that exist there fascinating (this being a technology blog, I'll steer clear of discussing politics). I went to the country for the first time last year and was amazed by the near ubiquity of Internet connections. Usually when Iran is mentioned in the media in relation to the Internet, it’s in articles on Internet censorship.

Yet censorship does not seem to translate into a dearth of Internet connections in the country. There were numerous public Internet cafes open throughout the major cities; the very modest hotels I stayed in had desktops with broadband connections in the lobby. Some even had connected PCs in the rooms. Additionally, I organized my entire trip - including a rather complex visa process – online. I didn’t have an actual conversation with anyone in Iran until I arrived in Tehran.

As has been frequently reported, the high number of Internet users has given rise to a prominent blogging community (check out Iranian blogs on Wikipedia). Technorati recently put Farsi as the 10th most popular language for blogs, although I’ve seen previous estimates put it as high as 3rd. According to some sources, Internet users in Iran account for almost 40 percent of users in the region. I’ll talk more about technology use in the Middle East at a later date, but I wanted to set the stage for why I’ll be paying particular attention to Iran’s role in the region. Below, a couple of pictures from the trip.