Information Technology

Minister for expanding optical fibre links along highways

KATHMANDU, MAY 17 -  Minister for Information and Communications Madhav Prasad Paudel has expressed commitment to increase the optical fibre links along highways and feeder roads. The commitment has come at the time when the government has not been able to work effectively on the district optical fibre project.

Addressing a workshop organised to mark the World Telecommunication and Information Society Day (WTISD) here on Friday, Paudel called on to bring projects for laying optical fibre along highways and feeder roads. “The government will arrange the required funds,” he said.

For the last four years, the Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA) has been planning to lay optical fibre along the Mid-Hill Highway, utilising the resources available in the Rural Telecommunication Development Fund. However, the plan that aims to link all 75 districts with fibre connection has not moved ahead due to the procedural delay. Currently, the fund has around Rs 7 billion.

Minister Paudel also asked the stakeholders to maximise the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in education, heath, rural development, import and export sectors and use its tools for road safety.

Participants of the workshop said the ICT could be used in creating traffic awareness, vehicle’s speed monitoring, post accident rescue and capacity building of drivers.

The WTISD this year is being celebrated across the world under the theme “ICTs and Improving Road Safety”. The WTISD, celebrated each year on May 17, marks the anniversary of the signature of the first International Telegraph Convention in 1865 which led to the creation of
the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the United Nation body on the telecommunication sector.
Every year, nearly 1.3 million people are killed every year worldwide through road accidents. In a statement issued on the occasion of the WTISD, United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said ICTs provided many options.

“Intelligent Transport Systems and navigation devices can help reduce congestion. Radars can help to prevent collisions with other road users — including pedestrians,” he stated. Each year 1,300 people on an average are killed in Nepal in road accidents, especially due to over-speeding.
“The use of ICT for reducing the accident rate has to be pragmatic as it not possible to adopt advance technologies like development countries,” said Saroj Kumar Pradhan, senior divisional engineer at the Department of Roads and general secretary of Road Safety Society-Nepal.

Pradhan said to start with, the government could install CCTV surveillance cameras to monitor vehicle speed for reducing accidents.

Smart Telecom preparing to expand mobile service

KATHMANDU, MAY 10 -Smart Telecom has started preparations to expand its mobile service across the country based on the unified licence it obtained last month. The company has asked for the government’s okay to increase its capital and has also hired a new CEO.

The government had issued the unified licence on April 15 amid controversy regarding the new licence regime. The licence allows operation of multiple telecom services nationwide including GSM mobile service.

Smart Telecom has recently asked for permission to expand its capital to enable it to extend its service, said Bipin Rajbhandari, chief of the Department of Industry’s Foreign Investment Division. The department is likely to give its go-ahead after studying the proposal within a week.

The unified licensing provision has been engulfed in controversy, and half a dozen cases are currently under consideration at the Supreme Court. The writs filed at the apex court have argued that the unified provision was introduced against the law, and that Smart Telecom was given the permit in haste intentionally without waiting for the court’s final verdict. Smart Telecom source said that the company had not been able to expedite work as it has been waiting for the court’s final ruling.

Smart Telecom , which entered the scene as a rural telecom company five years ago, has around 600,000 customers in 350 village development committees (VDC). It operates V-Sat technology-based fixed phone and GSM technology-based limited mobility service. Lal Sahu Distribution of Singapore holds a 70 percent stake in the company, Nepali company Square Network owns 20 percent and Israeli-based Gilat Network owns the rest.

Immediately after obtaining the licence, Smart Telecom had stated that it would invest Rs 4.50 billion in the initial phase and soft launch its service in the Kathmandu valley within six-eight months.

As part of its new strategy for network expansion, American citizen Abraham Smith has been appointed as the CEO. Former CEO Subash Bajracharya has been transferred to a telecom company in Africa.

“We are doing internal preparations to increase our investment and the areas to be covered,” said a Smart Telecom source. The source added that the management was planning to make a formal announcement of the CEO’s appointment and their plans soon.

CEO Smith has worked at American firm MCT Corporation which has telecommunication investments in Russia and Central Asia, Qtel of Qatar and WARF Telecom, a joint venture with Reliance Globalcom (India) and Focus Infocom (Maldives). He has a degree from Georgetown University in International Business, and prior to joining Smart Telecom , he was a partner at Catalyst Partners, a US-based consulting firm. Smith worked as chief operating officer at Wataniya Telecom Maldives, a subsidiary of the Qtel Group, CEO of MCT’s mobile communications company in Uzbekistan, Coscom, and Managing Director of WARF Telecom, Maldives, according to Smart Telecom .

On April 11, the Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA) board had decided to issue the unified licence to Smart Telecom and United Telecom Limited (UTL). However, UTL has not obtained the licence so far due to a stay order issued by the Supreme Court against the NTA board’s decision. STM Telecom Sanchar has also applied for the unified licnece.

An NTA official criticized the board for issuing the licence to Smart Telecom despite the government’s intention to provide such permits to small telecom companies to create a level playing field. “The company has not completed service expansion to areas specified by the government to get the unified licence,” the official added.

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Govt. plans devising separate policy for BPO service 


KATHMANDU, APR 11 -The government has initiated preparations for introducing a policy to help promote information technology (IT) and business processing outsourcing (BPO). BPO means providing information technology-related services to foreign companies from here without physical presence there.

The Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment has started collecting inputs from experts, associations concerned, and local companies in this regard.

Despite huge potential in software development and BPO services, the country has not been able to rip the benefits from the sector. There is no specific policy framework to promote the sector yet although the sector has been included in the Nepal Trade Integration Strategy as one of the services having huge potential.

Rajan Raj Pant, controller of the Office of the Controller of Certification under the Science and Technology Ministry, said the demand for IT services from international markets has been rising due to cheaper labour in Nepal. “The policy has been necessary for gaining faith of customers and setting the minimum level of quality assurance,” he said. There are an estimated over 6,000 BPO companies in Nepal working for international companies. However, only some 250 of them are registered legally. As per the Computer Association of Nepal (CAN), labour charge in the local market is cheaper by 35 percent than that in India, which has prompted foreign companies to buy services from Nepal.

“Many people are working smoothly, but are maintaining low profile due to tax issues,” said CP Adhikari, coordinator of BPO/Software Committee, CAN. He said the government has to win confidence of local companies and promote the country’s potential in the international market.

Outsourcing companies have been saying the government should emphasise on ending load-shedding, providing incentives to such companies and assure data security.

Many companies and individuals have been involved in BPO services that range from normal low-skilled service like data entry to high-skilled services like software development, graphic designing, animation or medical transcription.

As per the Ministry of Commerce and Supplies, the IT and BPO services are exported particularly to EU countries, the US, Japan, Australia and New Zealand.

According to IT expert Manohar Bhattarai, there is huge potential in mobile application development. He said the government should work as per the existing IT Policy or make needful amendments to the policy to promote the BPO sector, rather than devising a separate policy. The IT Policy amended in 2010 has aimed at facilitating outsourcing companies and developing the IT sector.

It is estimated that around 5,000 graduates enter the labour market with degrees in ICT every year in Nepal. Through the proposed policy, the government aims to attract international investors in the IT sector, set strategic direction for the BPO sector, create employment opportunities and certify and accredit training agencies.


Delay in notice publication in Nepal Gazette hits project

KATHMANDU, MAY 09 - Delay in publication of the notice regarding the opening of Voice over Broadband Service (VoBS) in the Nepal Gazette has affected the work on taking the broadband service and cheaper voice service to rural areas. A Cabinet meeting more than three months ago had decided to start the service in the country.

According to a source, officials at the Ministry of Information and Communication are neglecting the new service because of the pressure from Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs Krishna Bahadur Mahara, who was the Minister for Information and Communications until last week.

The ministry source said with mounting pressure from telecom operators not to allow VoBS in the country, Mahara has verbally ordered the Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA) and ministry officials not to move ahead with the project.

“Major telecom operators are against the project fearing that their income might drop, especially from the international long distance (ILD) gateway,” said the source. The source added that a huge portion of the income of Nepali telecom operators comes through the ILD gateway.

The Madhav Kumar Nepal-led government, through a Cabinet meeting on Feb. 1, had approved the telecom sector regulatory body’s proposal to open VoBS. This service is targeted at enabling rural people to make national and international calls using internet service at cheaper rates through Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) from any location as well as receive international calls.

The project targets to take the high speed broadband internet service having 256 kbps bandwidth along with VoIP to 38 districts. It plans to entrust the job to the lowest bidder as per the least subsidy model. The contract winning operator later can expand the service in urban areas as well, according to the NTA. If all goes well, the service is expected to be available by 2013.

“It is mandatory to publish a notice in the Nepal Gazette before we call a global tender for this project,” said Purushottam Khanal, director at the NTA and coordinator of the VoBS Project Implementation Unit. He added that the authority is all prepared to invite a tender.

The project implementation unit has already forwarded the tender document to the ministry and Asian Development Bank (ADB), which has provided $6 million for the project. The project is being undertaken under ADB’s ICT Development Project.

The source also said some members of Nepal Telecom workers’ unions have been threatening of halting telecom services and picketing the NTA office if it moves ahead with the VoBS project.

As per the existing provision, receiving calls from abroad via internet in telephone or mobile phone is illegal. Only four operators—Nepal Telecom, Ncell, United Telecom and STM Telecom—are allowed to bring in international calls in the country through their ILD gateway.

When asked about the delay in the publication of notice, Sushil Ghimire, secretary at the ministry, said they are holding consultations to this effect. “We are in the process. However, it is not possible to say how long will it take,” he said.

Normally, it takes around one to two weeks for publishing a Cabinet decision in the Nepal Gazette. The authority has already set aside 100 MHz of spectrum from the 2.3 GHz band for the service. A service provider requires at least 30 MHz of spectrum to operate the service. However, the government is yet to fix the spectrum fee and number of operators.

According to NTA, prospective service providers must have reached at least 1,500 Village Development Committees of 19 districts with 256 kbps-bandwidth internet facility to obtain the licence, as per the criteria set for operating VoBS.

Rural areas to get broadband services

KATHMANDU, MAY 02 -
The government is planning to extend broadband internet access to rural areas. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Information and Communications Krishna Bahadur Mahara said that the budget for the next fiscal year would include this agenda as one of the major priorities in the information and technology sector.

Currently, broadband is limited to urban areas. Even though telecom service has reached all 3,915 village development committees in the country, data service is not available to people living in rural Nepal.

Addressing the National ICT Day and ICT Excellence Award 2011 ceremony, Mahara said, “Use of ICT has been increasing rapidly, however, internet service is not available in rural areas. A few years ago, we had introduced an initiative—a mobile in each hand and internet in each house. Now, we will also include bringing broadband service in each village in the government’s plan and policies.”

About three months ago, the government had decided to introduce a new voice service along with broadband internet based on voice over internet protocol (VoIP) for rural connectivity. The service is targeted at expanding broadband data service and internet protocol-based voice service to provide voice and high-speed data service.

On the occasion of ICT Day, Minister Mahara honoured Sanjeev Rajbhandari, CEO of Mercantile Communications, with the ICT Excellence Award 2011 for his contribution to the development of ICT in the country. Kathmandu Model Hospital bagged the ICT Best User in Private Sector Award for the best use of ICT in the medical sector by offering telemedicine service. The ICT Best User in Public Sector Award went to the Inland Revenue Department for providing online facility to collect government taxes.

Suresh Karna, president of the Computer Association of Nepal (CAN), said that the awards had been given based on the contribution made to society through the use of ICT. “This type of recognition will help boost the morale of people to work for development and expansion of the ICT sector in the country.”

In a bid to highlight the need of ICT for the country’s development, CAN is working to observe 2013 as ICT Year. It is coordinating with stakeholders to celebrate ICT Year in a grand manner by involving the government and private sectors.

Manohar Kumar Bhattarai, vice-chairman of the High Level Commission for Information Technology, said that the nation would mark ICT Year with a mission to develop ICT and the government would provide all support to the private sector to this effect.

iPad now in Nepal, bookings open today

KATHMANDU, APR 21 - Neoteric Nepal has opened bookings for the globally acclaimed and much in demand iPad from its iLife store located at City Centre, Kamalpokhari. The device will be available within three months at a price of around Rs. 40,000.

“We have brought a piece for demo for now,” said Sanjay Golchha, managing director of the Neoretric Nepal. “Interested people can visit iLife store; experience the product by using it and book on the spot registering name and address.”

iPad is a tablet meant for internet browsing, media consumption, gaming, and light content creation. The iPad offers WiFi or Wireless WAN to browse the internet, load and stream media, and install software. Calendar, contact, maps, videos, youtube, itunes application store, notes, iBooks, Safari, photos and iPod are the major utilities of iPad.

Nepal Telecom ADSL ‘expensive’ says NTA

KATHMANDU, MAR 19 - Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA) has stated that the price proposed by the Nepal Telecom for the volume based ADSL internet subscriber is expensive. It also directed the service operator to furnish reason on how the proposed tariff is 'rational'.

Nepal Telecom - the sole ADSL service provider had approached NTA - the regulatory body for approval of the pricing of volume based ADSL usage targeting subscribers who wish to use limited internet with faster connectivity. It had proposed offering a minimum of 2GB data bandwidth with the speed of 512 kbps at Rs. 660 per month to the subscribers.

"We have asked Nepal Telecom to prove that the price under this scheme is cheap," said Bhesh Raj Kanel, chairman of the NTA. "As soon as it comes up with evidences, we will approve it."

Currently, Nepal Telecom has been offering unlimited ADSL internet service under 128kbps and 256kbps at Rs. 900 and 1,400 per month respectively excluding VAT to the general subscribers. "There is no possibility of reducing the price," said Surendra Prasad Thike, spokesperson at Nepal Telecom. "We will submit the proof to this regard very soon and get it done."

According to Thike, the scheme was floated keeping in mind the users who want to use limited high speed broadband internet at a cheaper rate.

Launched two years back, Nepal Telecom has spread the ADSL network to over 20 districts and plans to take this service to all 75 districts within the current fiscal year. As of mid-January 2010, the subscriber of the ADSL internet has reached to 31,163.