NEFPORT ISSUE 46 – SEPTEMBER 2021
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INFORMATION AND INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY The importance of telecommunications infrastructure for the economy has heightened from the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. With the increase in internet and mobile users, Government of Nepal has taken many initiatives to ensure the affordable and reliable reach of internet through telecommunications infrastructure. The private sector of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has leaped into action to take advantage of this very lucrative market. Shared use of Telecommunications inf rast ru ctu re: Nepal
Telecommunication Authority (NTA) has approved regulations related to the shared use of telecommunication infrastructure such as towers and fiber networks. Two or more telecommunication service providers can agree among themselves to use the telecommunication infrastructure mutually but will need to inform NTA within 15 days of the agreement. Every service provider is required to publish detailed information about the telecommunication infrastructure, which can be shared on their official website, and update it monthly. A maximum charge for infrastructure sharing will be determined by the authority and the service provider is required to share the details of the charges whenever asked. With the approval of the regulations, telecommunication and internet service providers will no longer have to invest heavily in infrastructure, easing their financial burden and bringing down costs. This policy is expected to enhance coverage and network quality by increasing internet penetration of stable connections. This is expected to create a fair and healthy competition in the market.200
Directives for testing of new technology: Several directives have
been issued by NTA for the testing of new technology including 5G. This covers network construction, trial period, frequency charges, and service charges. The directive states that a service provider should submit an action plan to the authority regarding the modalities of possible testing of the new technology, its information, locations to be tested, services to be provided, and its process. Similarly, details of frequency required for testing (band, bandwidth, reason to use band, and basis for bandwidth consumption), network connection, and operating schedule should also be disclosed by the service provider in the action plan. Both rural and urban areas need to be included while testing such technology.201 The import of equipment required to test new technology will be facilitated by NTA. The trial period for 5G testing is one year, where NTA will waive the frequency fee as well as prohibit the service provider from charging fees to the customer in areas where 5G is available.202 Chaudhary Group launches Fiber Net in Nepal: CG Net, a part of
Chaudhary Group, has launched
its fiber internet services. Initially available only in few places of Lalitpur, it is quickly expanding its services and is now available in more than 20 places within Kathmandu Valley. It has plans of widening its coverage to major cities of Nepal within this year. CG Net introduced the highest bandwidth speed at the lowest available cost, which is 120Mbps at NPR 999 (USD 8.38) per month.203 Optical Fibre Backbone Network Expansion Project: The Optical
Fibre Backbone Network Expansion Project, which was launched in 2016, has completed 46.16% of the work till July 15, 2021, laying optical fiber cables along 1600 km length. This project was divided and assigned to Nepal Telecom, Smart Telecom, and United Telecom (UTL). Nepal Telecom has made the most progress so far by installing optical fiber cable in 1006 km out of 2,083 km it had been assigned. The contract with UTL was annulled due to their failure to commence the project within the given period. Smart Telecom has so far laid out only 20 km of the 2500 km it had been assigned. 204 This project is expected to encourage the expansion of broadband internet
