NEPAL Action Plan on WSIS Geneva Declaration

1
NEPAL Action Plan on WSISGeneva Declaration
Plan of Action

• (Country Report prepared for Asia Pacific Meeting
  on WSIS Implementation and Preparation for APT
  Ministerial Conference, 29 to 31 March 2004
  Bangkok, Thailand )
• 
  
  
• 
  - Mukunda Prasad Acharya
  
• Joint
  Secretary
  
• 
  Ministry of Information and
  Communication (MOIC)
  
• 
  Singhadurbar, Kathmandu, Nepal
  
• 
  
  
• 
  Tel [phone] Fax
  977-1-4221729
  
• 
  Email macharya_at_ntc.net.np,
  
• 
  moicppme_at_ntc.net.np

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NEPAL IN BRIEF

• HIMALAYAN KINGDOM / MOUNTAINEOUS COUNTRY
• AREA 147,181 Sq. KM (17 Flat, 83 Rugged
  Terrain)
  
• Population 23 Millions ( Approx. 85 live in
  Rural Areas)
  
• Literacy Rate 58
• Administrative Divisions
• 5 Development Regions 14 Zones 75
  Districts
  
• 58 Municipalities 3914 Village Development
  Committees (VDC)
  
• Capital City Kathmandu ( Population
  800,000)
  
• GDP US 5.5 Billion GDP Growth
  Rate 5
  
• Per Capita Income per annum US
  235
  

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RURAL LIFE IN NEPAL

• One hour walk to a nearest school
• Two days to reach the nearest Telephone Booth
• One week of trekking to reach a Motorable road
• Two weeks to reach a posted letter to the
  capital- Kathmandu
  

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HISTORY OF NEPALESE TELECOMMUNICATIONS

• A 300 line Manual Crossbar Exchange was
  established in 1955
  
• The Department of Telecommunications ( DoT)
  established in 1959
  
• Nepal Telecommunications Corporation (NTC) was
  established in 1975
  
• NTC started its own Satellite Earth Station in
  1982
  
• The No. of installed telephone lines crossed
  100,000 in September 1995
  
• NTC became All Digital in 1995 (100 Digital
  telecom service)
  
• NTC launched its GSM Mobile Service in January
  1997
  
• NTC remained the only telecom operator until
  August 2003
  
• The First Private Fixed-Telecom Operator, UTL
  introduced its CDMA- WLL services in September
  2003 (NTC monopoly was broken)
  

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STATUS OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS IN NEPAL

• Total Telephone lines ( distributed) 390,000 (
  fixed WLL )
  
• No. of Telephone Exchanges 180
• Fixed telephone service available in all 75
  districts
  
• Total GSM Mobile Subscribers 112,000 (Post-paid
  Pre-paid)
  
• GSM Mobile Service available in 30 districts
• Overall Tele density 2 lines/ hundred people
• Urban Tele Density 16
• Rural Tele Density 0.172
• No. of Card phones installed in the kingdom 282
  sets
  
• No. of Smart cards sold 155,000 pcs.
• Countries to which Direct ISD is available All
  countries
  
• International Telephone Circuits in operation
  1307
  
• Total Working Domestic Microwave Channels 38520
  
  

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AVAILABLE ICT SERVICES AND THEIR NUMBER

• Fixed Telephone Service Providers 2
• Mobile Telephone Service Providers 1
• Rural Telephone Service Providers 1
• Internet Service Providers (incl. e-mail) 22
• Radio Paging 8
• Fax Mail Service Providers 6
• Video Conferencing 1
• VSAT Service Providers 10
• VSAT Service Users 53
• GMPCS (Sat. Phones) Service Providers 2
• National Radio Broadcasting (AM) Service 1
• National TV Broadcasting Service 3 (Terrestrial
  and Satellite)
  
• Private TV Channels 5 (Terrestrial and
  Satellite)
  
• Private Radio Broadcasting ( FM only) 50

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ENABLING ENVIRONMENT FOR SECTOR LIBERALIZATION

• Prevailing Policies/Acts
• Telecommunications Act- 1996
• Telecommunications Policy-2004
• Information Technology Policy- 2000
• High Level Commission on IT- 2003
• Upcoming changes
• ? Cyber Law- 2004
• Revised IT Policy-2004

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Initiatives for WSIS

• Seminar of Policy Makers, Planner, Line
  Ministries and Private Sector Civil Society
  held on Feb 3, 2004
  
• Seminar on Amendment of IT Policy-2000
• New Telecom Policy 2004 a milestone towards
  implementation of WSIS Plan of Action

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Salient Features of Telecom Policy 2004

• Access to telephony at shouting distance in rural
  areas (Universal Access)
  
• Telephone on demand in urban areas (Universal
  Service Obligation)
  
• Corporate service
• Full Competition and liberalization in the
  Telecom Sector
  
• Open Licensing Policy
• Technology neutral licensing regime
• Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA) as
  competent telecom regulator
  

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Salient Features of Telecom Policy 2004 (Contd.)

• ICT application in support of rural development
  and poverty alleviation
  
• Privatization of the Incumbent Telecom Operator
  the NTC
  
• Easy and less expensive licensing procedures
• Encouragement of Private Sector
• Rural Telecom Fund
• Multi Service and Multi operators
• Custom privilege on importion of Telecom
  Equipments to be used in Rural Areas

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Action Plan

• One Private Operator on Basic Telecom already in
  Operation
  
• Private Operator given license to built and
  operate basic telephone services to 534 VDCs of
  Eastern Development region unserved so far.
  
• MCT (Multipurpose Community Telecenters) being
  established.
  

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Action Plan

• Delicensing of Industrial Science and Medicine
  (ISM) Bands in line with WRC -3 Recommendations
  
• 800,000 fixed Telephone and 300,000 GSM lines to
  be added by 2007.
  
• About 900 KM optical Fibre Cable is being laid
  from East to West

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CHALANGES AHEAD

• Bridging the Digital Divide
• Accessibility in Rural Areas
• Affordability
• Standardization
• Research and Development
• Appropriate ICTs for Rural People
• Resource Allocation to meet the cost

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• THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR
• KIND ATTENTION!!!
• Email macharya_at_ntc.net.np
• moicppme_at_ntc.net.np
• Website www.moic.gov.np