9th July 2019 Kathmandu
How feasible is it for the Internet coming to Nepal to reach the oceans? The Chairman of the Nepal Telecommunications Authority Mr. Purushottam Khanal to the Communications Minister would often say that it is possible for Nepal’s Internet to reach the sea, but it has only been limited to a subject of the speech.
But the government has been working on a policy to study its potential. For this, the authority has also initiated the work of consultant choice.
Five companies have been selected in the tender published on 2nd Jestha 2076. According to the authority, GeoCom International Pvt. Ltd. and Maxtech Study and Services Pvt. Ltd’s joint venture, Sitara Consultant Pvt. Ltd. and Executive Consulting Engineering and Planner Pvt. Ltd.’s joint venture, Civil Informatics and Solutions Pvt. Ltd. and Smart Management and Research Team Pvt. Ltd.’s joint venture, Everest Telecom, and IT Solution Pvt. Ltd.’s joint venture, Mahendra Group Pvt. Ltd and Inter Information and Communication Technology Pvt. Ltd. are the initially selected companies.
Currently, three places receive the internet connection from India, whereas one gets the service from China. The authority says that although there are benefits for a geographically challenged country in such projects, the policy is being implemented based on the cost and profit only.
According to the authorities, the project will be promulgated only with the conditions of having a cheaper and more reliable internet connection. The current relationships between India and China are costly and not that very safe. So, the government’s policy to try and introduce cheap and reliable internet to Nepal is worthy of applauds.