Network data from NetBlocks confirm a major disruption to internet connectivity in Iran from the morning of Friday 4 March 2022. Metrics show the loss of connectivity across multiple providers, corroborating user reports of loss of service in several cities including Tehran. Service was largely restored some three hours after the onset of the outage.
ℹ️ Update: Internet connectivity is being restored in #Iran following a fire at the buildings of the Telecom Infrastructure Company (TIC) which serves as the gateway for network operators in the country; incident duration ~3 hours 📈
📰 Report: https://t.co/g0evT7Zw8E pic.twitter.com/S0m14T3Vtl
— NetBlocks (@netblocks) March 4, 2022
The incident comes amid reports of a fire at the Telecom Infrastructure Company (TIC), which serves as the gateway for network operators in Iran. The use of a centralized gateway allows Iranian authorities to control the flow of information to counter cyberthreats, but has also come under scrutiny for its use to limit the public’s access to information and international services.
What are the authorities saying?
Images shared by commentators and Iranian media showed fire engines dispatched to telecommunications buildings in Tehran. Authorities stated that the incident was being addressed.
مثل اینکه شرکت ارتباطات زیرساخت آتیش سوزی توش رخ داده و برخی از سایتهای داخلی!!!!!!!!!!!!! باز نمیشن.
عجب عجب عجب.
ویدیو از کانال میلاد نوری. pic.twitter.com/G5Q3rUinLx
— [email protected] (@NarimanGharib) March 4, 2022
Further reading:
- Iran says data center fire causes internet disruption – Washington Post / AP
- Reported fire at Iranian telco data center causes widespread Internet outages – Data Center Dynamics
Methodology
NetBlocks diffscans, which map the IP address space of a country in real time, show internet connectivity levels and corresponding outages. Purposeful internet outages may have a distinct network pattern used by NetBlocks to determine and attribute the root cause of an outage, a process known as attribution which follows detection and classification stages.
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