Iran's economy falters as internet shutdown hits people, businesses hard

"The state-imposed blackout has disconnected Iranians from the world and choked off businesses. Tehran, Iran Iran's economic outlook appears increasingly grim more than three weeks after the start of what became one of the most comprehensive and prolonged state-imposed internet blackouts in history, impacting a population of more than 90 million people. Iranian authorities abruptly cut off all communications across the country on the night of January 8,"

"Most of Iran's internet bandwidth, local and international phone calls and SMS text messages have been restored over recent days. But most of the country is still unable to freely connect to the global internet amid heavy filtering by the state. The increased bandwidth allows more people to circumvent state restrictions using a variety of proxies and virtual private networks (VPNs), but solutions are often costly and temporary."

"Last week, Information and Communications Technology Minister Sattar Hashemi told reporters his ministry estimates that the Iranian economy suffered at least 50 trillion rials (about $33m at the current exchange rate) in damages on a daily basis during the blackout. But the minister admitted that the true toll is likely much higher, and said that other ministers and economic officials have privately offered heftier estimates that he did not expand upon."

More than three weeks into a nationwide state-imposed internet blackout, Iran remains largely cut off from the global internet and isolated from international communications. The shutdown began on the night of January 8 amid nationwide protests that were met with deadly force, and affected more than 90 million people. Recent restorations have returned much local bandwidth, phone calls and SMS, but heavy state filtering prevents free global access. Increased bandwidth has allowed some users to use proxies and VPNs, but those methods are often costly and temporary. Official daily economic damages were estimated at 50 trillion rials, with true losses likely higher. The government has attributed the full blackout decision to the Supreme National Security Council and pledged limited support to online businesses.

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