Some 300 villages across Golestan province will have access to ICT services by March 2005.

Residents of major villages in the northeastern province of Golestan will no longer need to go to larger cities to use Internet services. Because, the province's rural areas rank first nationwide in terms of access to information and communication technology (ICT).
Local telecommunication officials are of the opinion that some 300 villages across Golestan will have access to ICT services by March 2005.
A province of 1.5 million, Golestan has six major cities and 958 villages. One-third of the province, where farming is the predominant occupation, falls into the underdeveloped
category.

Geography
Golestan borders Mazandaran, Semnan and Khorassan provinces. The province also borders Turkmenistan to the north. Golestan has, for most of its part, mild Mediterranean climate.
Being close to Turkmenistan desert and lacking high mountain range, Golestan plain has a semi-desert climate. Humid forests of northern Alborz extend to Minoodasht and Golestan forests. Winter quarter grasslands are confined to Gorgan plain, which is situated between Gorgan River and central Turkmenistan. Agriculture and animal husbandry have major role in the economy of this province. Most of the industries are somehow dependent on agriculture and forestry.
Cotton and wheat are the main agro products of the province, which is responsible for 45-60 percent of the national caviar production.

Link to Gov't Web
Iran's first-ever Internet site has been set up in Qarnabad village, Golestan province. Qarnabad will join the government web in the coming weeks as part of the plan to translate the idea of electronic government into reality.
A village of 2,109, Qarnabad is located 20 kilometers from the provincial capital, Gorgan. Farming and animal husbandry are responsible respectively for 60 and 30 percent of occupations in the village, whose 10 percent of inhabitants are either self-employed or engaged in industrial activities.
Literacy rate is estimated at 73 percent in Qarnabad, where there are 30 women with Bachelor's degrees.
Qarnabad's Comprehensive ICT Center has been established chiefly to help develop the village in all key social, cultural and economic areas.

Economic Approach
The center has, however, focused on economic progress of the rural area. It is planning to help guarantee long-term investments in the village.
The Comprehensive ICT Center also renders training services to the villagers of different ages and educational backgrounds. It also provides government institutes, universities, students and researchers with updated information about the village and its problems.
E-commerce, telecommunication, post bank, insurance, Internet cafŽ and electronic training services are also offered by the modern center.
Moreover, training workshops were held in the village prior to the start of the project so that the villagers were given the chance to open up their knowledge of what is going to be offered to them.
Experts believe that the pilot ICT plan in Qarnabad could entail a great transformation in the traditional structure of rural areas nationwide. It can also contribute effectively to the government project to implement 10,000 rural ICT centers across the country.
Golestan authorities have given special attention to the development of ICT sector while trying to expand the lucrative tourist industry in the lush green province.
The IT sector is now being developed mainly to create revenues for the rural inhabitants.
Some 22 IT projects will be implemented in the province, whose share of the 5,000 IT jobs to be created nationwide stands at only 200. The provincial organizations have earmarked 1.65 billion rials for the implementation of these projects by 2005.
IT Park
An information technology park will be constructed in the area. The park will be named after India's giant Hyderabad IT Park. Its construction is expected to cost 4.4 trillion rials.
High-speed Internet has been provided to 40 schools in the province. In Gorgan, an electronic municipality has also been planned.
Managing director of the Golestan Telecommunication Company, Es'haq Hosseini, said the Qarnabad initiative is the first of its kind in the Middle East region, stressing that another village called locally as Livan is undergoing a similar project.
He stressed that Iran's first electronic commerce promotion center has been established in Golestan and that the center supports small industries.
The official also said that the optic fiber network has quadrupled over the past year, contributing effectively to Internet-related programs in the province.

In countries with advanced transport systems, governments embarked on the monorail project after completing all other transport infrastructures such as metro and the bus fleet.

As a means of urban public transportation, monorails have been in use since the 1960's. Tokyo Monorail went into operation in 1964. A few years later, a monorail system was operational in California, in the Disneyland Theme Park. Over the last few years, a number of monorail systems have been planned and constructed; including Kuala Lumpur Monorail, Singapore Monorail, Orlando Disneyland Monorail and so on. More are presently being constructed for use in different parts of the world including the Tehran Monorail.
A monorail is an urban public transport system offering a number of advantages over other urban public transport systems (subway, bus, and so on). These advantages include: no noise, no vibration, no traffic disturbances and high safety standards.

Proven Technology
Monorails have significant advantages over light rail.
They do not interfere with surface traffic. Being elevated, monorails do not interfere with surface traffic.
The machine is environment friendly. Being electrically powered, monorails are non-polluting. Most run on rubber tires and are quiet.
Monorails are proven technology- they are proven people movers. Bombardier MVI monorails carry over 150,000 passengers per day at the Walt Disney World resort. Other companies such as Hitachi and others also produce medium to high capacity monorail transit systems.
Unlike light rail, monorails may be automated and may not require drivers. Light rail systems operate at a loss and require public subsidy money. A large portion of the operating expense must be paid to vehicle operators. Monorails offer the opportunity to become automated, thus eliminating this expense. In fact, many monorails such as the Tokyo and Seattle monorails turn a profit each year. Because light rail operates at surface level, light rail will never offer the option of being automated and therefore will always have to be subsidized by the taxpayer.

Heavy Costs
The idea to establish Iran's first monorail in the capital was proposed some 28 years ago by then mayor, Shahrestani.
Shahrestani eventually scrapped the project after consulting an expert team who advised against the plan, saying it would do least to solve Tehran's traffic dilemma.
Despite warnings by transport and traffic experts that the plan would create more problems in the mega city and that it needs further scientific backing, the present Tehran mayor Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejhad is resolved to go ahead with the plan regardless of the heavy costs it would impose on the already cash-strapped government.
The bigger part of criticism is directed towards the plan's geographical mapping. According to those who have had access to the initial sketch, the selected route is less crowded, making the project, in their view, unjustifiable.
Among opponents of the plan is Ali-Asghar Ardakanian, a member of the Transport Engineering Society who says Iran lacks the required technology and knowledge to run and maintain the system.
Contrary to this are those who say the project falls within technological capacities of Iran. They are often heard saying that the Municipality and the Roads and Transportation Ministry have all the expert knowledge and manpower at hand to turn the project into a complete success.

Falls Short
Ardakanian insists the plan falls short of certain essential considerations such as failing to take into account the affiliated expenses for maintaining the monorail's underground and surface structures. The plan only encompasses the overall costs and this will cause financial austerities for the Municipality and the government, inevitably compelling them to cut down on the budget allocated for other transport sectors to keep the system running.
Supporters claim the project will progress more rapidly than other transport projects such as metro. They, says Ardakanian, have apparently failed to take notice that monorail's passengers transfer capacity is 10 times less than that of the subway.
He tried to drive the point home by saying that in countries with advanced transport systems, governments embarked on the monorail project after completing all other transport infrastructures such as metro and the bus fleet.
Monorail in these countries only complements an already established transport network.
The government should first complete construction of the metro network, as the city's main transport artery, and then take on more 'sophisticated' action plans.
Given the country's aging transport fleet badly in need of renovation, would a monorail not be an auxiliary rather than a necessity?
Moreover, experts are concerned that the plan will cause delay in implementation of other more important transport projects.

No Second Thoughts
All in all, the plan to establish Iran's first monorail was inaugurated on March 17. The line, about 12 km long, starts at Sadeghieh Square and forms a roundtrip path by extending through the Sadeghieh Metro Station, Ekbatan Township, and Mehrabad Airport Terminal.
The project was reportedly inaugurated without receiving the approval of the High Traffic Council; a body in charge of studying and approving transport schemes.
The Municipality's failure to win the council's approval will disqualify it from any form of state assistance.
The plan is estimated to cost 800 billion rials, with all the necessary equipment and parts to be imported. Nowhere in the world has a project cost $12 million per kilometer.
Would the municipal body be willing to give the plan a second thought and instead put the focus on extending the metro line and renovating the dilapidated bus fleet to provide the people with easy and cheap access to a well-functioning public transport system?
According to most experts, the monorail plan lacks economic, technical and financial justification.