Nepal Telecom Conditionally Gets Additional 5 MHz Spectrum in 1800MHz Frequency Band.

Nepal Telecommunication has got an additional 5 MHz spectrum in the 1800 MHz frequency band. A meeting of the Radio Frequency Allocation committee decided to provide an additional 5MHz in 1800 MHz band to the Government-owned telecom company. However, the regulator NTA has set forth conditions that Nepal Telecom needs to meet for 4G, find below.

Nepal Telecom has asked the government for more spectrum in the most popular 4G band to expand its 4G network to all country places. Earlier Nepal Telecom was lobbying the government officials to avail the most of the remaining spectrum in this 1800 MHz band at their bid price.

But, the first-ever spectrum auction resulted in awarding 9 MHz Spectrum to Ncell at the cost of 5 crores and 80 lakhs per paired MHz frequency. So, the decision has been taken to apply the same price of Ncell’s highest bid to Nepal Telecom for the remaining spectrum. Nepal Telecom now needs to submit 29 crores (290 million) Nepali rupees for this new frequency spectrum.

Until now, NTA had the remaining 7 MHz spectrum in the 1800MHz frequency band, out of which Nepal telecom grabs 5 MHz. So, there is only a remaining spectrum of 2 MHz in the 1800 MHz band.

Although NTA tried to put the remaining spectrum of 900 MHz and 2100 Mhz to auction, no decision has been taken to carry out the bidding.

Contiguous Spectrum

As per the decision, Nepal Telecom will receive an additional 5 MHz ( 1725 to 1730 Uplink paired with 1820 to 1825 Downlink) spectrum. This frequency is adjacent to the existing frequency band of Nepal Telecom. Nepal Telecom currently holds a 15 MHz spectrum from 1710 to 1725 UL, and this additional 5 MHz makes a total of 20 MHz contiguous spectra in the 1800 MHz. Find all the details of Frequency bands and spectrum used in Nepal for mobile service.

Telecom operators seek to acquire more spectrum as this shall help them increase their capacity and improve service quality promptly. Though the frequency band’s cost is quite expensive, Nepal Telecom does not want to miss the advantages of a contiguous 20 MHz spectrum in 1800 MHz, the most popular spectrum band for 4G. All three telcos (Ntc, Ncell, and Smart) operate 2G and 4G in this 1800 MHz spectrum band.

Conditions for Nepal Telecom

Here are NTA’s conditions that Nepal Telecom needs to fulfill to receive additional frequency in the 1800 MHz band.

• Nepal Telecom needs to expand 4G in all 77 districts of the country within 2020. NTC has already met the 4G coverage in all districts conditions.
• The company needs to cover 95% of the city areas with a 4G network within 2022.
• The company needs to serve 90% of the Municipality and Village bodies’ total population within 2022.
• Within the same year 2022, Nepal Telecom shall cover 95% of the tourist areas, National Parks, Highways.
• Nepal Telecom shall use LTE advanced technology for its 4G network.
• The minimum speed of 4G with Nepal Telecom shall meet 20 Mbps in city areas. At the same time, the minimum speed for remote areas needs to be 10 Mbps.
• Nepal Telecom shall operate additional 3000 new 4G telecom towers in the country within 2022. They can use their existing spectrum of 1800Mhz and/or 800 MHz in those towers. Read the detailed information on 4G frequency bands of Nepal Telecom.
• The telecom operator needs to submit the progress of the 4G rollout to NTA quarterly.
• Based on the progress report, NTA can perform tests, including site visits and service quality, in those 4G built areas.

As they receive the additional spectrum for their 4G, we can expect Nepal Telecom to increase its 4G speed promptly. We shall update you once they operate the contiguous 20 MHz band for its 4G network.