An apparent fire at a telecommunications building in Tehran has caused Internet outages across the country.
Tehran appears to be the worst hit by the loss of connectivity, which affects multiple providers, but other cities have also lost Internet services. Update: Mahdi Salem, Deputy Telecommunication Minister, said that an “electrical connection” had caused the fire, but it was later repaired.
"A major Internet disruption has been registered in Iran with high impact to Tehran and other regions; real-time network data show a collapse in connectivity amid reports of a fire at a key telecoms data center," Internet outage tracking group NetBlocks said.
Firefighters have been seen outside Telecom Infrastructure Company (TIC), the monopoly provider of telecom infrastructure to all public and private operators in Iran.
Amid reports about widespread disruption in access to internet in Iran, photos have emerged online showing firefighters outside Telecom Infrastructure Company (TIC), the the sole provider of telecom infrastructure to all private/public operators in Iran. pic.twitter.com/KqiAolRhqX
— Khosro Kalbasi (@KhosroKalbasi) March 4, 2022
Around 64-69 percent of Iranian citizens are believed to use the Internet, as of 2018. But the government heavily censors the Internet that they can reach, blocking platforms like YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Blogger, Telegram, Snapchat, Medium, Netflix, Hulu, and most major western news outlets.
