Nepal connects to China Internet, breaks Indian monopoly

Finally, Nepal has been connected to the China internet network. This breaks the Indian monopoly and will now be a breakthrough in having competition for providing internet service to Nepal.

As known from multiple sources, the cross border optical fiber link establishment and testing have been successful between Nepal Telecom and China Telecom. After realizing it commercially, India and China will now compete for the supply of Internet Bandwidth to Nepal. What are your expectations for the Chinese internet and see below the advantages for the Chinese internet in Nepal?

Although the Chinese internet was supposed to reach Nepal last year, the optical fiber could not complete due to landslide and damage from heavy snow. The damage was towards China side which is more mountainous and it even killed a Chinese worker there. They keep on pushing the deadline and the launch due to the adverse situation. The fiber connects through the Geelong (Keyrong)- Rasuwagadhi border between Nepal and China.

After rerouting the optical fiber link, Nepal Telcom and China Telecom are now successful in testing the link. So, Minister for Information and Communication Mohan Bahadur Basnet and Chinese Embassador to Nepal Mr. Yu Hong, will collectively inaugurate the link this Friday.

As known, Nepal Telecom (NTC) will connect the link to its central internet network. Soon after, they will commercialize the internet network upon agreement for the bandwidth and price.

Advantages of the Chinese internet in Nepal?

Right now Nepal connects to the internet through India only. First, there will be an alternative for internet bandwidth, in case of any problem (physical or intentional!). The routes for the connect connection to India are from Birgunj, Bhairahwa and Biratnagar. The new link is through the connection from the Rasuwa border to China.

The price of Chinese internet may seem to be nearly equal comparing to that of Indian service. But the bandwidth price of the internet will go down surely due to the break of Indian monopoly. Currently, Tata, Airtel, BSNL, Bharat Panjab and Reliance provide 22 Gbps internet to Nepal. Internet from China Telecom will be in small bandwidth at first like in 2 Gbps. The amount of bandwidth will gradually increase if everything goes right.

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China Telecom has assured of providing reliable service and also a direct connection to Hong Kong Data center is possible. Using the link, Nepal can also act as a transit between China and India.

Tell us about your expectations of the China Nepal internet link.