Even as telecom companies — Nepal Telecom (NT) and Ncell — have shown interest to introduce 4G, also known as long-term evolution, the government has not been able to auction spectrum required for making the service available under this technology. Both the companies have been demanding 4G frequency from the government since last three years.
The International Telecommunication Union has described 4G as a family of networking standards that offers data transfer speeds of up to 1 GB per second. It can provide a comprehensive and secure all-internet protocol-based mobile broadband solution to laptop, computer, wireless modems and smartphones. It is also a successor to 3G service.
The 4G technology can provide high-speed broadband data connection, except usual voice. For example, a customer can enjoy watching high-definition video without streaming by being connected with 1 GB per second data speed. Similarly, it enables users to have other services that include IP telephony, online gaming, easy and quick transfer of heavy files and video conferencing. The wireless 3G data service, currently available in the market, offers data speed of 3.6 Mbps.
Officials at the NTA said that they were taking more time to assign 4G spectrum, as they were in need of new rules to assign the frequency through auction. “We will first have to make amendment to telecom law for allocation of 4G spectrum through auction,” said acting chief of the NTA Ananda Raj Khanal.
He added that they were carrying out a study through a committee regarding the spectrum policy and auction under coordination of NTA board member Mahesh Prasad Adhikari. The NTA has also envisaged allocating 4G spectrum to a new company, besides the existing telecom operators. The government through ‘Telecommunications Radio Frequency Distribution and Pricing Policy 2012’ had decided to auction high value spectrums required for 3G and 4G technology.
However, auction plan has not moved smoothly due to delay in conducting study on auctioning practices in international market, fixing base price and devising legal provision through Act. The committee under the coordination of Adhikari was formed after the telecom companies complained of the policy being rigid. The NTA has said that based on the report of the committee, it would make recommendations to the Ministry of Information and Communications for necessary changes in existing rules.
Both telecom companies NT and Ncell have been saying that they are ready to rollout 4G service. “Once the government allocates us required frequency, we will be able to launch 4G service within two to three months,” said managing director of NT Anoop Ranjan Bhattarai.
The state-owned company has also included 500,000 4G service lines in its ongoing 10 million mobile lines project. In a bid to rollout the 4G service, NT is also preparing to hire a consultant to study domestic 4G market. The NTA has said that it would first auction 3G spectrums as planned in the spectrum policy and go for 4G spectrum allocation.
According to the policy, the government will use 700 MHz, 3300 MHz and 2600 MHz bands for 4G service. NT and Ncell are currently using 2X10 MHz 3G spectrum paying Rs 240 million charge annually.The two companies were assigned the spectrum before the government decided to auction 3G frequency through the spectrum policy.
http://thehimalayantimes.com/fullNews.php?headline=NTA+gears+up+to+amend+Telecommunications+Act&NewsID=409691
1 comment:
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