Distribution of mobile lines under 10-m line project to start in May
KATHMANDU, MAR 29 -
Nepal Telecom ( NT ) has said that it will start distributing new mobile lines under the 10-million GSM line project in the Kathmandu valley in May. The scheme’s Package B has a total capacity of 4.8 million lines and is targeted at the Kathmandu valley and the Western Development Region.
“We plan to distribute new lines outside the valley by mid-December 2014,” said a top NT official. According to the state-owned telecom giant, the project’s two packages will be completed in one and a half years.
Under Package A, 5.2 million mobile lines will be distributed in the Eastern, Mid-Western and Far Western regions besides the Central Region excluding the Kathmandu valley.
Meanwhile, NT has claimed that the quality of its GSM mobile service has improved with various measures adopted to enhance the quality of service (QoS) in the current fiscal year. Installation of new mobile towers, high-capacity battery backup and optical fibre connection for the towers are some of the measures that NT has implemented to improve its QoS.
With long hours of load-shedding remaining as a major problem for telecom companies to keep their mobile towers operating round the clock and offer better service, NT has replaced its old backup systems with high-capacity battery support at 250 towers across the country. Similarly, it has installed equipment that consume 60 percent less power and added 150 base transceiver station (BTS) as of mid-March.
NT has also established optical fibre connections to 60 BTS by replacing copper wire links and installed equipment required to enhance indoor coverage in 84 locations (city core areas, government offices, hotels, banks and media houses) to improve the quality of its long criticised mobile service.
The company has also been operating five mobile BTS vans which can be taken to places where the signal is poor during public events, and it has added 13 mobile BTS vans to the fleet. The company said in a press release that its initiatives had left a “positive impact on QoS indicators”.
NT spokesperson Guna Kesari Pradhan said that the company would be installing high capacity battery backup at another 150 BTS by the end of the fiscal year, apart from supplying power through diesel generators and solar panels at sites where power is required all the time. “The company has also replaced 200 antennas to make the QoS effective,” she added.
The company maintains around 2,500 towers across the country. It also plans to add more than 1,000 towers under the 10-million GSM line project for the Kathmandu valley.
Source: The Kathmandu Post
