Iran to test "national internet": minister

Iran to test "national internet": minister

TEHRAN, June 22 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Minister of Communications andInformation Technology Reza Taqipour said Wednesday that in aneffort to provide Iranians with higher-bandwidth internet access,Iran is set to test its national internet with the help of a limitednumber of users, the local English language satellite Press TVreported.

Taqipour said the project's "Phase Zero" would be launched andbecome operational within the next two weeks, said the report.

"This project will be tested on some users until its next phasesbecome operational," he was quoted as saying.

Also known as the "Clean Web," the initiative seeks protectionagainst the loose commitment to ethics and morality across the WorldWide Web, said Press TV.

According to the report, Tehran has also undertaken a project todevelop a national search engine dubbed "Ya Haq" by early 2012,which can be accessed through the domestic internet.

According to the New York Times article on June 12, the U.S.State Department has initially issued a 2-million-U.S.-dollar grantfor developing the "Internet in a briefcase" technology that wouldallow dissidents to circumvent the restrictions of repressiveregimes around the world by making internet networks portable acrossborders.