Jul 31, 2013

Govt completes financial evaluation

KATHMANDU, JUL 31 -The Department of Transport Management has completed the evaluation of financial proposals submitted by three shortlisted firms for the implementation of the electronic driving licence project and has forwarded the evaluation report to the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the financer of the project.

Based on ADB’s opinion, the government will select one among the three bidders to implement the $2.3-million project. The bidders are India’s Madras Security Printers, Spain’s Indra Sistemas SA, and Malaysia’s IRIS Corporation Berhad. The project aims to issue electronic driving license and blue books to vehicle owners.

However, the shortlisting of the Indian firm, which has “controversial records” in India, has invited controversy in the project. Complaints have been filed at department and the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA), stating the department has been preparing to award the project to Madras Security Printers, which according to the complaints, has been blacklisted in India.

Jul 30, 2013

Imports by telecom companies soar due to expansion drive

KATHMANDU, JUL 30 -Imports of telecom munication equipment nearly doubled in the last fiscal year with telecom companies going on an expansion and upgrading spree. The Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA) said these companies procured p-roducts worth Rs 8.54 billion in 2012-13.

In fiscal 2011-12, imports of telecom products amounted to Rs 4.55 billion. As per the Telecommunication Act 1997, telecomoperators have to get a recommendation from the NTA to import any kind of telecom munication equipment.

The imported products include stru-ctures for transceiver stations, power equipment, mobile switching centres and base station equipment for maintenance, expansion and upgrading work, according to the NTA. Imports soared due to increased purchases by the big two - Nepal Telecom (NT) and Ncell.

NTA officials said NT has been working on its mega project which aims to add 10 million GSM lines, while Ncell is working on capacity increment from 2G to 3G service network besides increasing service areas. During the last fiscal year, NT bought equipment worth Rs 5.18 billion, up 60 percent from the previous year’s Rs 3.23 billion, the NTA said.

Jul 29, 2013

NT’s net slides as revenue grows

KATHMANDU, JUL 29 -Nepal Telecom ’s (NT) net profit declined by Rs 1 billion in 2012-13 even as its revenue increased to Rs 37.60 billion. The reason behind the fall in the profit is the payment of the first instalment of the licence renewal fee.

In 2011-12, the state-owned company had earned Rs 11.60 billion profits. In the year, its revenue was at Rs 36.79 billion. NT, which is also the largest tax paying company, has projected a net profit of Rs 10.59 billion for the last fiscal year. The company paid Rs 2.5 billion to the government as the first instalment of Rs 20 billion licence renewal fee in January.

NT, unveiling its annual plan for 2013-14 on Sunday, said it would generate a net profit of Rs 11.96 billion from the targeted income of Rs 41.65 billion. The income targeted by NT for the current fiscal is up by more than Rs 4 billion compared to projected income of Rs 37.60 billion for the last fiscal year.

In a bid to achieve the revenue target, NT has planned to distribute around 3 million mobile and telephone lines besides expanding its data services nationwide.

Jul 28, 2013

Nepal Telecom’s data market share rises to 46 percent

KATHMANDU, JUL 28 -Nepal Telecom ’s market share in the data segment has increased by 5 percentage points in the one year period between mid-June 2012 to mid-June 2013, supported mainly by the growth in the number of users of its GPRS, WiMax and ADSL services. Ncell, however, remains the leader in the segment.

NT added 1.15 million new data users in the review period to take its data users’ tally to 3.1 million, according to the latest Management Information System report released by the Nepal Telecom munications Authority (NTA). With this, NT’s share in the domestic data market has increased to 46 percent from 41 percent.

Ncell data market share fell to 51 percent from 57 percent a year ago. It has 3.4 million users of its GPRS, 3G and Ncell Connect services in it GSM network. United Telecom Limited’s data market share stood at 2 percent with 92,817 users, while ISPs hold 1 percent data market share with 85,817 users.

NT attributed the growth in its data segment to increased subscription of GPRS, WiMax broadband and ADSL services. The company also offers other data services like dial-up in landline network, 3G in GSM network and EVDO in CDMA network. “The main factor for the growth in our data user numbers is our cheaper service,” said Surendra Prasad Thike, deputy managing director of NT.

Jul 25, 2013

IBN to assign Nepal Metro to conduct study for metro rail

KATHMANDU, JUL 25 -Investment Board Nepal (IBN) is planning to order Nepal Metro to prepare a detailed project report (DPR) for the proposed Kathmandu Metro Railway Project. The board has been working on finalising the terms of reference (TOR) for the study.

Last year, the government had assigned the metro railway project to the IBN, and the Cabinet had decided to give the DPR job to Nepal Metro. The company has submitted a proposal to conduct a detailed study and build a mass rapid transit system in collaboration with international firms.

“We have sought comments over the draft TOR from the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport,” said IBN CEO Radhesh Pant. He added that once the TOR was ready, the IBN would sign an agreement with Nepal Metro to do the DPR.

Meanwhile, the government is reluctant to assign the construction work to Nepal Metro despite its desire for the contract. According to Pant, the IBN will call for transparent global bidding to select a contractor for the Kathmandu metro.

Jul 23, 2013

NT replacing 500 plus old mobile towers

KATHMANDU-JULY 23--Nepal Telecom (NT)’s cell phone users are expected to start getting good experience of voice and mobile data service after one month. The company is replacing its old mobile towers with new ones in Kathmandu Valley from Wednesday onward.

The replacement of towers also known as base transceiver station (BTS) swapping is a part of the company’s project on adding capacity for 4.8 million new GSM mobile lines which is also targeted to enhance quality of voice, GRPS and 3G service. The company has stated that it is starting replacing of mobile towers from Kirtipur and Syuchatar areas.

As of now, the mobile service in the Valley is being provided through the towers built by ZTE Corporation, now they will be replaced by new site equipment of Huawei Technologies, which has been awarded the contract for adding capacity for 10 million GSM mobile lines.

“We plan to replace all site equipments of the Kathmandu Valley within a month which will improve the performance of out network for voice and 3G service,” said Guna Kesari Pradhan, spokesperson of NT. She also said that since the company would be swapping the towers, mobile users are likely to face technical problems for one month.

Smart Telecom to go nationwide with $300m investment

KATHMANDU, JUL 23 -Smart Telecom (ST) has stated that it plans to invest US$ 300 million (Rs 28.8 billion) to expand its telecom service nationwide. The company has posted a significant growth in the subscription rate and staked its claim as the third largest telecom operator in the country.

“ST has already invested more than Rs 3 billion in expanding its network and is planning to continue with almost $ 300 million,” said ST’s CEO Abraham Smith. He added that the company wanted to be a customer-centric and service-oriented telecom provider with affordable prices and the best quality network.

In April 2013, ST obtained a unified telecom licence, and since then it has been working aggressively to extend its services across the country.  The permit allows it to operate multiple telecom services including GSM mobile like the big two, Nepal Telecom and Ncell. However, its licence has run into controversy and cases related to it are under consideration of the Supreme Court.

Jul 14, 2013

Ncell users to get bonus on receiving int’l calls

KATHMANDU, July 14-Ncell has launched an interesting campaign under which Ncell customers receiving international calls can now get bonus every minute on taking such calls for more than a minute.  

The campaign has come into effect from July 10 and all Ncell customers living across the country can participate in it, according to Ncell. The longer customers talk, the more bonuses they will get, and the maximum bonus that they can get from one international call is Rs 30.

For activating this facility all customers have to dial 1131 and it is free of cost. Once Ncell customers activate this facility, they will start receiving bonus of Rs 1 on completion of each minute of taking international calls made by their family and friends living in any part of the world.

Jul 11, 2013

Nepal seeks South Korean help to develop railways

KATHMANDU, JUL 11 -Nepal has asked for assistance from South Korea in its effort to develop a national railway network. It has requested South Korea to help carry out studies and impart training to enhance the technical capacity of Nepal i government officials.

A 12-member Korean delegation led by Lee Jong Kook, director general of Railway Safety and Planning, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, was in Kathmandu recently to discuss possible cooperation, and Nepal reiterated its request to prepare a detailed project report (DPR) of the 100-km Kakkarbhitta-Itahari section of the proposed East-West Electric Railway Project.

The Korean team returned home on Wednesday after the first annual meeting between senior officials of the two countries. South Korea has been showing keen interest in helping Nepal to develop its railways.

“The meeting was focused on the possibilities of cooperation in the development of railway service in Nepal ,” said Tulasi Prasad Sitaula, secretary at the Physical Planning Ministry. A team consisting of joint secretary-level government officials will be leaving for training in Korea next month. Nepal might sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Korea on mutual cooperation for development of transport infrastructure including railways during the visit, he added.

Industrial Enterprises Act to be amended to include SEZ issues

KATHMANDU, JUL 11 -The government has been working to amend the Industrial Enterprises Act 1992 to turn it into an “umbrella act” which will include a legal provision on the Special Economic Zone (SEZ). The Ministry of Industry is preparing to introduce the act though an ordinance.

Earlier, the government had planned to bring a separate act for the SEZ with the aim of boosting industrial production, banning labour protests in such areas and providing tax exemptions. However, the draft SEZ Act prepared by the Industry Ministry was opposed by the Finance and Labour ministries regarding taxation and labour relations. The government now wants to abandon the plan to create a separate law for the SEZ by incorporating the related provisions in the umbrella act.

“As there is no situation for introducing a separate law for the SEZ, we will include the issues in the umbrella ordinance,” said Krishna Gyawali, secretary of the Ministry of Industry. He added that the new ordinance would also incorporate provisions related to sick enterprises and relief packages for them.

Jul 10, 2013

Competition makes telecom cos give priority to customer care

KATHMANDU, JUL 10 -Increased competition has prompted telecom companies to look at their customers with greater respect. They have started making customer care a priority with the mobile market gradually maturing. Nepal Telecom (NT) is scheduled to bring into operation its modern customer contact centre (CCC) within two months and Ncell has been expanding its centres nationwide.

After the rapid growth in the mobile market characterised by increased competition to attract new customers and retain existing ones, customer care has taken centre stage. The Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA) said that there were more than 20 million telephone subscribers in the country with the penetration rate reaching 77.11 percent last month.

The increased concentration on providing better customer service has showed that companies are now shifting their focus from cheaper tariff to better service, according to Ananda Raj Khanal, director at the NTA. He added that prices had come down to almost rock bottom due to competition for market share, and now only the companies providing quality service, better customer care and more value added services would be able to attract customers.

Jul 9, 2013

NT to expand cheaper internet service nationwide

KATHMANDU, JULY 8--Nepal Telecom (NT) has been endeavouring to expand cheaper internet service to all parts of the country. It plans to make its Sky Pro service available countrywide by October, and it is also engaged in two projects to extend its GSM 3G and WiMax services.

Sky Pro is an IP CDMA technology-based voice-cum-data service. It will be the cheapest mobile data service (50 Psia Per MB) having wide network coverage. The state-owned telecom giant has said that it will also set up 500 WiFi hotspots at airports and hospitals in various parts of the country.

With demand for data increasing rapidly, NT has been focusing on data service to make it its main revenue earner. As of now, most of its income comes from voice service. “Since the future market lies in data service, we are preparing ourselves for it with a variety of data services,” said Amar Nath Singh, managing director of NT.

Speaking at an interaction on Monday, Singh said that internet service would be its main service in the next 10 years, and that they were preparing for the future market. Dial-up, GRPS, 3G, WiMax, Sky Data, Sky Pro and lease line connections are the data services being provided by the company. From the next fiscal year 2013-14, it is also set to distribute the Fibre to the Home (FTTH) high-speed data service.

Jul 8, 2013

NTA to submit annual plan to ministry directly

KATHMANDU, JUL 08 -The Nepal Telecommunications Authority ( NTA ) has decided to forget protocol and submit its programme for fiscal 2013-14 to the Ministry of Information and Communications for its approval.

As per the Telecommunications Act, the NTA board has to approve the yearly programme and send it to the ministry for its go-ahead. However, the ad hoc board has not been able to hold a meeting and reach a decision for more than two months as its legitimacy is being examined by the Supreme Court.

“We are sticking our neck out as the new fiscal year starts next week, and we do not have any programme yet,” said a high-level NTA official. He added that even though the board members would not hold a meeting, they have agreed informally to send the plan to the ministry.

The NTA has been hamstrung with every one of its decisions running into controversy, especially after its contentious decision to award a unified licence to Smart Telecom last April. Since the board has not been able to function, the NTA ’s operations have been affected. It has not been able to renew the licences of internet service providers (ISPs), issue new ISP licences, approve the tariffs of telecom and internet companies and implement its annual plan effectively.

Jul 7, 2013

NT to offer FTTH service from next FY

KATHMANDU, JUL 07 -Nepal Telecom (NT) is gearing up to launch a new project-Fibre to the Home (FTTH) in a bid to offer customers the fastest Internet as well as other value added services including voice, television. As part of the FTTH project, the company will install equipment in 10 exchanges in Kathmandu, Biratnagar, Birgunj, Butwal, Pokhara and Bhadrapur to enable its system to provide the fibre cable service.

“The installation works in Sundhara and Naxal exchanges are near completion and we will start service as pilot one in some areas like Durbar Marg,” said Bhagat Man Singh Pradhan, deputy managing director at the NT. He added that the company was targeting to distribute the service from early next fiscal year 2013-14, starting with corporate clients in the initial phase. Considered as the best solutions for data service, the FTTH can carry high-speed broadband services integrating voice, data and video, and reach directly to home or building, for which it is also called Fiber to the Building (FTTB). The NT has already completed the installation of optical fibre links to the exchanges known as fibre to the exchanges (FTTE).

Pradhan said that the NT was working out on the type of value added services to be included, tariffs and installation fee. Normally, the FTTH provides data transmission at the speed of 100 Mbps. Some telecom companies have even started an Internet service with an incredible speed of 1 gigabit per second, which is 100 times faster than the average Internet speed in the US.

Jul 5, 2013

Govt missing track opening target of Mid-Hill and Frast Track roads

KATHMANDU, JUL 05 -The government is set to miss the target for completing the track opening of two national priority road projects — Mid-Hill Highway and Kathmandu-Tarai Fast Track — this fiscal year too. Due to the failure to resolve problems related to land acquisition, geographical difficulties and the ongoing rainy season, the planned work is set to remain undone.

As per the government’s target, the track opening of the road projects should have completed by July 15, when FY 2012-13 ends. The deadline was set after the government’s previous plan to complete the work by the end of last fiscal year 2011-12 failed.

The Ministry of Infrastructure Planning and Transport has said the remaining 8-km track of the Mid-Hill Highway in the Western Section could not be opened due to rains affecting the work. And, the work on opening the remaining 8-km track of the Fast Track road did not see any progress due to problems related to land acquisition.

Although the government has accorded the national highway status to the projects, work on the roads has been moving at snail’s pace due to problems such as lack of support from political parties at local level, land acquisition problems, limited resources and lack of clear planning from the government.

Jul 4, 2013

NT to unveil Rs 70b budget for next fiscal

KATHMANDU, JUL 04 -Nepal Telecom (NT) has prepared a Rs 70 billion annual plan for fiscal 2013-14. The company will present its policy and programmes to the board for its approval after ironing out the kinks through internal discussions.

The highlights of the annual budget are new projects including Customer Contact Centre (CCC), Fibre to the Home and Unified Communication System (UCS) and optical fibre extension programme. A high-level NT official said that the budget might go beyond Rs 70 billion due to increased expenses and payment to vendors of major projects, the 10 million GSM mobile lines, convergent billing and 2 million IP CDMA lines.

“The budget for the next fiscal year is almost complete,” said NT spokesperson Guna Kesari Pradhan. Pradhan added that the company had included new projects focusing on better customer service, high speed data and social networking sites, among others.

NT had long been planning to operate a Nepali social networking site under its UCS project in a bid to help reduce money going out of the country for bandwidth used for social networking sites. Similarly, the CCC is designed to handle customer complaints received through e-mail, chat, instant messaging, SMS, fax and social networking sites.

IPB nod to Super Madi, Bottlers Nepal plans

KATHMANDU, JUL 04 -The Industrial Promotion Board ( IPB ) on Wednesday decided to allow foreign investment in 44MW Super Madi Hydropower Project and endorsed a proposal from Bottlers’ Nepal on increasing its capital to increase production capacity of the Chitwan-based plant. The decisions were made during the IPB meeting chaired by Minister for Industry Shankar Prasad Koirala.

Super Madi, which holds a construction license for electricity generation, is seeking to bring foreign investment from its Costal Project Limited India. The project, being developed by Himal Hydro and General Construction, had sought the government’s permission to bring foreign investment for the project.

According to information posted on Himal Hydro’s website, Costal Projects India has a majority share holding (82.21percent) at Nepal Jalabidyut Prabardhan Tatha Bikas Ltd which in turn has 78 percent stake in Himal Hydro.

Bhaskar Raj Rajkarnikar, vice-president of Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) who participated in the meeting, said that the exact amount of foreign investment was not revealed during the meeting.

Jul 3, 2013

Ncell offers bonus on recharge

KATHMANDU, JUL 03 -Ncell has simplified and increased the bonuses being provided on balance recharges. As per the new bonus structure which goes into effect from Wednesday, customers get benefits each time they recharge their balance by Rs 100 or more.

The company has categorised customers into two groups on the basis of the length of time they have been using its services — for more than a year and for less than a year. Older customers will get a bonus of Rs 10 to Rs 125 while newer customers will get a bonus of Rs 5 to Rs 95.

Ncell ’s corporate communication director Sanju Koirala said that the bonus scheme was designed to ensure that loyal customers were rewarded in a simpler and more efficient manner.

Jul 2, 2013

Old plan to build ring road in Pokhara being revived

KATHMANDU, JUL 02 -An old government plan to build a ring road around Pokhara has been dusted off and given a new lease of life. The Department of Roads is at the final stages of selecting a consultant and signing an agreement to prepare a detailed project report (DPR) for the proposed 70.5-km road.

Last week, the Roads Department issued a letter of intent to Silt and Card Consultants JV to do a detailed engineering survey, design and DPR. Earlier, the government had planned to build a 77-km road encircling Pokhara, nine surrounding village development committees and parts of Lekhnath Municipality. The project was shelved after completing a feasibility study due to lack of cash.

The ring road is estimated to cost more than Rs 1 billion. As per the department, the design and price tag will be known after the detailed study which is scheduled to be completed within six months. “The ring road project is not included in the government’s programmes, and no money has been set aside to build it,” said Madhav Karki, deputy director general of the Roads Department. He added that they had decided to build the road with money saved from other projects considering its importance in the tourist city.

Jul 1, 2013

Digital licences, blue books to be issued from 2015

KATHMANDU, JUL 01 -The government plans to issue electronic driving licence s and blue books for motor vehicles starting in 2015. The Department of Transport Management is preparing to select an international contractor to implement the project.

Three firms, Madras Security Printers of India, Indra Sistemas SA of Spain and IRIS Corporation Berhad of Malaysia, have been shortlisted among the bidders as technically capable firms to undertake the project. The department has asked them to submit their financial proposals by July 17.

“We have asked the technically qualified firms to submit their financial proposals too after depositing a bid bond of US$ 46,000,” said Sarad Adhikari, technical director at the department. He added that they planned to complete the evaluation of proposals by July to appoint a contractor and send its name to the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for its approval to sign an agreement.

The ADB has provided the government a grant assistance of US $ 2.3 million to implement this programme as part of the ICT Development Project. A total of 13 international and local firms had submitted technical proposals in response to the invitation for tenders issued in August last year. The department has been working to implement the hi-tech machine readable electronic driving licence s and blue books for the last three years.