DishHome awarded with ISP License, Coming with fiber and satellite

DishHome, the popular direct to home (DTH) TV service provider is now going to expanding its service coverage with internet services. The company which is currently operating television service is provided an Internet Service provider (ISP) license.  DishHome which is providing TV services through VSAT technology will also extend its internet service by terrestrial and satellite technology.

The company is a trailblazer in implementing satellite TV channel service in Nepal for roughly 9 years. And now they’re anchoring their vision to provide Internet service in Nepal via satellite and fiber.

A meeting held on the Nepal Telecommunication Authority (NTA) on Friday decided to give DishHome an ISP license. DishHome, which has been providing digital television to the villages, will now provide Internet services through fiber and satellite, together with an ISP license.

Sudeep Acharya, managing director of DishHome says there are plans to distribute the Internet services through two technologies. “We provide internet through cables in urban areas. VSAT is for remote areas,” he said. He added that the cable internet would also be connected to the same setup box, and hence both services would feel the same to the customer.

Read: How to get internet connection in Nepal?

Why Fiber and Satellite?

Creating a network of fiber connections throughout the country is really a cumbersome task. The population density of rural areas of the country is very low as compared to the urban areas. There is the high difficulty of wiring all those rural areas so satellite would be a wiser option for the reachability.

Check: Nepal launches its own satellite

The company will provide internet service in remote places through VSAT technology. The estimated cost for the operation is expected to be at Rs. 30 Crore. This technology is currently used by some of the larger corporate organizations in Nepal for office purposes only. The company aims to professionally operate satellite-based internet services in the country. Most of the satellite internet users in the country are using ‘K’ and ‘KU’ bands which are considered relatively slow. Whereas, DishHome is planning to operate this service in the ‘C’ group, which is regarded to be a quality band of VSAT technology.

For VSAT based internet service, satellite signals are required and Nepal does not have its own satellite. DishHome is transmitting the TV channel by Israeli based satellite called ‘Amos.’ The company is planning to use the ‘Amos-4’ satellite from the same company. This service will be accessible only to remote users over DishHome’s VSAT technology. In city and suburban areas, the Internet will be propagated by optical cables like the other ISPs.