As we always say that Telecommunications is the only field in Nepal which attracts enough public attention and is more developed compared to other areas. Nepal Telecom has planned to come up with two new broad plans. NTC wants to set up a DTH Hub, expand CDMA network and EVDO.
Nepal Telecom to set up a DTH hub
Nepal Telecom has recently planned to provide earth station (ES) service to direct-to-home (DTH) operators in the country. This is in response to increasing DTH activities in the country. The state-owned telecom giant is working to set up a shared DTH hub in the capital Kathmandu to make the service available within six months. However, since it is a government body, maybe they will take a bit longer for that.
NT is going to invest an estimated 2.75 million U.S. dollars in the world class hub station to be built in Kathmandu. The specifications for leasing satellite transponders are already prepared, according to the NT’s Satellite Service Directorate. The expected hub services coverages is limited to three-four DTH operators, though.
There are an estimated 2 million television households in the country. Each operator needs to create a subscriber base of 150, 000 to survive. They can expect heavy competition from cable operators who are adding more channels with digital quality, said television experts. The Ministry of Information and Communications has given permission to nine firms to operate DTH services in the country.
Global tender for CDMA expansion by NTC
NTC is inviting a global tender to expand its CDMA network across the country and this has been granted by the government. Probably, this is the largest tender ever called in Nepal. The telecommunication giant is also incorporating convergent billing project in the CDMA expansion package. The convergent billing project is estimated to cost 1 billion rupees (some 13.5 million dollars). After the completion of network expansion in three years, the largest telecom operator in the country expects to have 3.5 million subscribers.
Once selected, the firm will erect 2,500 additional towers for CDMA service across the country. NT currently has 700 towers across the country for its CDMA service. CDMA telecommunication system based on wireless technology is becoming popular and effective in remote areas of the country.
NTC is involved in different network vendors like ZTE of China, Nokia Siemens, Ericsson, AlcaTel, and Hua Wei in its existing CDMA network.
Extension of 3G EVDO
Encouraged by the popularity of EVDO (Evolution, Data Optimized) service – the internet service operating on advanced CDMA technology in Kathmandu, Banepa and Pokhara, NT is further extending this service to other rural areas and major cities.
The capacity of EVDO service is only 1,400 and NT has already distributed it. Most of the commercial areas across the country are expected to benefit from the expansion of EVDO service. For more articles about NTC 3G EVDO please visit TechSansar.com‘s articles on tag: 3G.
