Here’s a concise summary of customer reviews and common user experiences for Iran’s main mobile network operators (based on recent public posts, app-store reviews and news/forums). I’ll cover the big operators (MCI / Hamrah-e-Aval, MTN Irancell, RighTel) and general traveler notes.

Key providers

• MCI (Hamrah-e-Aval)

  • Strengths: Largest subscriber base and broad nationwide coverage, generally reliable voice service. (tehrantimes.com)
  • Complaints: Users report issues with pricing/promotions, and mixed experiences with customer support. Some travelers recommend MCI for coverage but note pricing can be higher. (tehrantimes.com)

• MTN Irancell

  • Strengths: Widely used, generally good 3G/4G/4.5G data performance in many areas; affordable prepaid data packages when bought locally. App-store and forum commenters often praise data speeds. (chrome-stats.com)
  • Complaints: Frequent user complaints about spammy SMS/ads, occasional unauthorized charges or confusing package activations, and mixed customer-support feedback in reviews. (chrome-stats.com)

• RighTel

  • Strengths: Marketed as higher-end (early adopter of 3G/4G in Iran), some users report good data for LTE in covered areas.
  • Complaints: Smaller coverage footprint than the two above; pricing and customer support experiences vary (fewer large-scale review sources available compared with MCI/Irancell). (general marketplace observation; see aggregated discussions). (irantalent.com)

Common themes across reviews

• Coverage vs. location: Urban areas (Tehran, Isfahan, Shiraz, Mashhad) typically get good performance; rural/remote areas can be patchy and depend heavily on which operator has infrastructure there. Many travelers and locals advise choosing the operator with the best local coverage for your specific city/region. (tehrantimes.com)
• Data speed and price: Data speed is often reported as good in cities; prepaid data packages are widely used and considered inexpensive — but purchasing top-ups can be tricky for foreigners without local banking. (reddit.com)
• Customer support and billing: Recurrent complaints across operators: unclear package activation, unexpected charges, and variable customer service responsiveness. App reviews and forum posts highlight these as frequent grievances. (chrome-stats.com)
• SMS/marketing spam: Particularly reported for Irancell (ads/SMS spam) with users looking for ways to opt out. (tripadvisor.in)
• Travel/tourist notes: Visitors commonly recommend buying a local SIM (Irancell or MCI) on arrival; be prepared to register phones and to use scratch cards/cash for top-ups. Many recommend using VPNs (because some services are restricted) and sometimes multiple VPNs for reliability. Reddit travel threads emphasize preparing for intermittent blocking and occasional slowdowns. (reddit.com)

Where these assessments come from

• App-store and review-aggregator summaries for Irancell and others (user ratings, complaints about billing/customer support). (chrome-stats.com)
• News and industry reporting for subscriber numbers and coverage claims (e.g., MCI’s scale). (tehrantimes.com)
• Travel forums and Reddit threads with first‑hand traveler and local user experience (VPN, registration, choosing SIM at airport, coverage variability). (reddit.com)

If you want more detail

• I can fetch recent (specific-date) app-store review snapshots or Trustpilot/other review-site pages for each operator and summarize the top positive/negative review excerpts with dates.
• Or I can produce a short “best-for-travelers” recommendation (which SIM to buy where and how to top up) or compare prepaid data package examples if you tell me which city or type of use (tourist, resident, heavy streaming) you care about.

Which follow-up would you prefer?