Iran Launches Paid 'Internet Pro' Tier on Day 53 of Record Blackout as 90 Million Stay Offline
On the 53rd day of the longest nationwide internet shutdown ever recorded, Iran's state telecoms are selling a paid 'Internet Pro' tier to 91,000 business licensees. The general public remains at roughly 1 percent of pre-blackout connectivity.
Iran's nationwide internet blackout entered its 53rd consecutive day on April 21, surpassing 1,248 cumulative hours offline and remaining, by NetBlocks' measurement, the longest state-imposed internet shutdown ever recorded in a previously connected country. On April 20, NetBlocks reported that cross-border traffic was still running at roughly one percent of pre-shutdown levels for the general population, even as the government moved to restore connectivity for specific groups.
The workaround now being offered is called Internet Pro (اینترنت پرو), a paid, metered connection sold by three state-linked telecom operators. The Iranian state news agency ISNA, in an announcement headlined 'Class-based internet officially enters the market,' described Internet Pro as an 'expert option providing a stable connection for professional activities' available in the form of one-year data packages priced above ordinary carrier plans. Iran's Chamber of Commerce said on April 13 that 91,000 commercial cardholders would be notified to register. Separately, Mehdi Abtahi, Deputy Minister for Research at the Ministry of Science, announced that university professors would receive phased access, with the ministry submitting a vetted list of names to communications authorities.
The scheme amounts to a formal tiering of access in a country that previously held connectivity as a default. Government spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani had earlier said the government would allow those who can 'get the voice out' to have internet access -- an unusually direct description of the selection logic now being codified through Internet Pro.
What the blackout has cost
At an April 12 joint session of Iran's Chamber of Commerce commissions, Afshin Kolahi, head of the Chamber's knowledge-based economy commission, put direct losses at 30 to 40 million dollars per day and indirect losses at 70 to 80 million dollars per day. By mid-April, cumulative damage was estimated at 1.8 billion dollars. Kolahi compared the daily loss to the 20 million dollar B1 bridge in Karaj, partially collapsed by a US air strike on April 2: the shutdown, he said, was destroying the equivalent of four such bridges a day, or two power plants.
Other reported indicators:
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Days offline (as of April 21) | 53 |
| Cumulative hours offline | ~1,248 |
| Cross-border connectivity | ~1% of pre-shutdown |
| Online sales decline | -80% |
| Tehran Stock Exchange overall index | -450,000 points over 4 days |
| Commercial cardholders invited to Internet Pro | 91,000 |
How the tier works
Internet Pro is not a restoration of the open internet. Registrants on the paid tier retain most existing filters on global messaging services and thousands of blocked sites, but gain usable bandwidth and access to certain app stores and Google services that the general population cannot reach. Eligibility is determined by state or state-linked intermediaries: the Ministry of Science nominates academics, the Iran ICT Guild registers freelancers, the Chamber of Commerce identifies commercial cardholders, and the Ministry of Health has opened nominations for physicians and researchers.
Critics inside Iran have rejected the framing. Journalist Aliasghar Honarmand, editor-in-chief of an online privacy and medical-research site, wrote on X that he had refused multiple Internet Pro invitations, arguing that 'access to the free internet is a fundamental and basic right for all people' and that rationing it to state-classified elites 'normalises severe internet disruptions, creates an illusion of free connectivity, undermines social cohesion, violates personal privacy and propagates a black market.' For years, Iranian authorities had publicly opposed any formal tiering of internet access. State media is now describing the system as a necessity.
Context
The blackout was imposed on February 28, immediately following US and Israeli air strikes against Iran, and has remained in place through 53 days of continuous disruption -- longer than any prior country-scale shutdown measured by NetBlocks. Previous Iranian shutdowns during unrest lasted 12 days (the June Israel conflict) and roughly 20 days (nationwide protests in January). The current episode has outrun both by a factor of more than two, and the government has not stated when, or whether, full connectivity will be restored to the public.