Indian RF Signal interferes mobile in Nepal

Indian RF signal is known to interfere Nepali telco in the border. As per the latest investigation by the regulator NTA, the signal from the Indian side has disturbed Nepali telcos service due to the frequency interference. Mobile service in the southern belt of Terai has been affected by the Cross border radio signal. Indian Signal interference issue escalates due to lack of cross border frequency coordination among the two countries.

As per some report, the radio frequency in the Terai area from Indian side affects Smart Telecom’s mobile service. NTA confirms the RF interference for the telco whereas they could not track the actual source of interference. The interference is in the 900 MHz frequency band of the range: 885 MHz to 887 MHz which is assigned to Smart Telecom. NTA started the investigation on the matter when Smart Telecom complained to the regulator for the interference problem.

They confirmed the RF signal from the Indian side when they found the signal even after turning off Nepali operator’s signal. Due to the lack of modern equipment, they are unable to find the exact location and source of the interference.

What is RF Interference?

RF interference is the effect of a frequency signal disrupting another signal of the same frequency. Interference may affect communication for a short period. It can also disturb the communication for all the time.

Cross border Frequency Coordination Practice

Cross border frequency coordination is the process of managing or assigning the frequency in the bordering area so as to remove or mitigate RF interference between two systems across the border. International practice has some sort of mutual agreement or coordination among countries to solve such cross border interference issue. They can even form a task force or committee to handle and solve such issue. The regulations can be in the form of:

• Lower power in the bordering cells.
• Coordination for not to assign some frequency channels in the bordering cells.
• Antenna direction not to focus towards the other country.
• BTS tower itself not near to the border.

If there is no proper regulation or coordination, then some countries can also use jammers to jam or filter the RF signal. It is only a temporary means or in the case when there is no good relationship between the countries.

As per the Naya Patrika news, there has not been any cross border agreement or coordination between India and Nepal. So, it seems high time to start the coordination between the regulators in both sides to solve the problem. They also felt to upgrade their testing equipment to identify the source of RF interference.