Tehran’s new public transport bus service will be equipped with WiFi and a digital library. Previously a number of yellow taxi companies in Iran started offering mobile WiFi services to their passengers.
Tehran is rated among the most polluted cities in the world. Every year during the winter time Tehran’s citizens suffer from illnesses caused by the air pollution due to the temperature inversion. Today, in mid-December, all schools in the city of Tehran were closed, sporting events were canceled and many industrial activities were paused.
The air pollution in Iran causes 34 trillion Tomans damage per year (nearly 8.5 billion dollars) —directly and indirectly— to the country according to Iran’s Ministry of Health. A research by Tehran Municipality also shows that over 80 percent of the air pollution in Tehran is caused by the vehicles in the city. The substandard gasoline in Iran, over 8 million cars and motorbikes in this city and the inadequate transport infrastructure are some of the main reasons behind this phenomenon.
According to Managing Director of Tehran Municipality’s Bus Company, of the 6 thousand and 200 buses in Tehran, over 50 percent of them have exceeded their lifespan and are over 10 years old. “This year, Municipality of Tehran, brought in 80 bus units into the public fleet. But Tehran needs more than 3,000 bus units to replenish its current fleet.” He added that “smart bus units” will be brought in to the fleet which are equipped with Internet and a digital library.
Currently, a portion of the yellow taxis in Iran which are owned by the private sector are equipped with free WiFi. These taxis are usually hybrid cars and are used by airport fleets and shopping malls. You can imagine the useful data that can be generated by these modern fleet for the city of Tehran for big data purposes.
Previously with the request of Iran’s ICT Minister, a number of mobile and fixed operators started providing Iranian citizens with free public WiFi services around the country. Currently, the number of free Internet access spots provided by Asia Tech, Hamrah-e Aval (MCI), Irancell and Rightel has reached to 66.
Source: http://techrasa.com/2017/12/18/tehrans-public-transport-service-becomes-wifi-friendly/