Iranian Telecom Giant Names New CEO

During a ceremony held on Saturday, Mehdi Akhavan was introduced as the new CEO of Mobile Telecommunications Company of Iran.

Akhavan replaces Hamid Farhang who had served in the position since January 2018, Tasnim News Agency reported.

The new CEO served as MCI’s chairman of the board between 2018 and September 2019.

In 2012, Leader of Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei appointed Akhavan to Iran’s Supreme Council of Cyberspace. A year later and as per a mandate issued by then-president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, he became the council’s secretary.

In 2014, he got a top job at the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting and worked as the state-run TV network’s deputy for emerging media technologies. Mohammad Sarafraz was IRIB’s chief during the period.

Founded in 1992, MCI is the largest mobile operator in Iran with 61.7 million subscribers, data published by the Communications Regulatory Authority show. It has a 53.19% share of the total number of mobile subscribers, registering 116 million of them.

MCI is a subsidiary of the state-owned Telecommunications Company of Iran.

In December 2010, 5.5% of the MCI shares were offered on the Iranian over-the-counter Farabourse, valued at $396 million, which was the largest IPO-to-date in the Iranian OTC equity market.

In August 2013, the company moved from OTC to Tehran Stock Exchange. The market value of the company in April 2014 was $4.3 billion.

According to TSE data, the firm’s market value was 285 trillion rials ($2.4 billion) on Sunday.

Currently, TCI owns 90% of MCI's shares and the rest are listed at Tehran Stock Exchange.

In 2015, MCI launched 3G and 4G technologies under a new brand name, Notrino.