News in Brief
Iran stands as 12th largest producer of shoes in world
Iran is the 12th largest producer of various types of shoes across the world, said a member of the Footwear Industry Association on Saturday.
Ali Lashgari added that shoe production units manufactured 270 million pairs of various types of shoes, ranging from casual footwear to specialized shoes last year, IRNA reported.
He noted that there are 12,000 active industrial production units and 50,000 distribution networks in the footwear sector in Iran.
Notably, 95% of production units employ fewer than 50 workers, with the majority of shoewear being manufactured by small enterprises.
Lashgari added that the current capacity of production units could elevate the country’s shoe production to the 8th position in the world with appropriate government
support.
Mobile Internet penetration rate in Iran tops 132%: Regulator
Figures released by Iran’s Communication Regulatory Authority (CRA) indicated that mobile Internet penetration rate in the country has exceeded 132%.
CRA figures covered in a Saturday report by IRNA showed that the number of high-speed mobile Internet subscribers in Iran had reached a total of 112.644 million in the year to March 19, up more than 7% from the figure for preceding year.
The figures showed the number of mobile users in Iran also rose by more than five million to 152.755 million at the end of the year to March 19, bringing the mobile penetration rate in the country to over 179%, which is 3.4% more than the related figure to the year ending March 20, 2023.
However, the CRA said there was a slight decrease of 1.7% in the number of Iran’s fixed broadband subscriptions last year which was 28.763 million.
The figures come amid plans by the Iranian government to further boost access to mobile and fixed Internet services.
The Iranian government also plans to connect over 20 million homes and businesses to the high-speed fixed fiber network by mid-
2025.