Financial Tribune- The number of posts published on Telegram channels by Iranian users has surpassed 1.1 billion. Cyberspace Research Center of Shahid Beheshti University has announced that more than 555,000 Iranian channels are currently operational, ISNA reported.

The report further states that on average each Iranian Telegram user follows at least 18 channels. Telegram is the most popular social media and messaging application in Iran with some 45 million users.

While several services offered through the application are blocked in Iran — like voice calls and payment services — so far Telegram has been able to preserve its dominance in Iran. Since July 27, Telegram has started using encrypted content delivery networks based in Iran that facilitate users’ access to information.

A content delivery network, or CDN, is a system of distributed servers that deliver content to a user based on the geographic location of the user and the origin of the content.