CDMA phone service starts operation in Nepal

The state-owned Nepal Telecom (NT) launched wireless telephone service based on the Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) communications technology in Kathmandu Valley on Sunday.

The CDMA telephone lines will be distributed to the applicants, who are in waiting list of the Telecom, from Sundhara Exchange in the first phase, Managing Director of the Telecom Sugat Ratna Kanshakar said.

The service will be extended gradually throughout the kingdom in a phase-wise manner, he said.

Necessary construction and installation works have been completed for distributing a total of 1 million CDMA telephone lines throughout the kingdom under five different phases, he said.

According to Kanshakar, around 250,000 phone lines will be made available in the first phase across the country including Kathmandu Valley, central Narayani zone, eastern Janakpur and Biratnagar cities, western Pokhara and Bhairahawa cities and far- western Dhangadi town.

Around 50,000 lines will be available in the valley alone. "The total demand of phones in the valley is estimated at 100,000 while the total demand of phones across the country is around 400,000," Kanshakar revealed.

The NT plans to spend 1.83 billion Nepali rupees (26.14 million US dollars) on making available 1 million lines throughout the country by 2008.

NT hopes distribution of telephone services with this technology to rural parts will increase the country's telephone density from around 3 percent at present to 20 percent within six years, he added.

Source: Xinhua