Nepal Telecom (NT) is planning to provide earth station service to direct-to-home (DTH) operators. The state-owned telecom giant is working to set up a shared DTH hub at its Sagarmatha Satellite Earth Station at Balambu, Kathmandu to make the service available within six months.
According to NT, it will invest an estimated US$ 2.75 million for the world class hub station. It will lease two carriers with 72 MHz transponders.
“The NT board has asked us to prepare the specifications for leasing satellite transponders,” said Birendra Prasad Pradhan, manager of the NT’s Satellite Service Directorate. “Though we have not signed any contract yet, AsiaSat and INTELSAT have shown interest in leasing us transponders having footprints over South Asia.”
NT’s move has come when two DTH operators, Satellite Nepal and Dish Media Network, are at the final stage of start services under the brand names Home TV and Dish Nepal respectively. NT aims to offer hub services to three-four DTH operators using DVB S2 MPEG-4 statistical multiplexing technology for maximization of throughput.
CG TechnoDreams, one of the nine firms given permission to operate DTH service in the country,has shown interest in subscribing to NT’s hub station service.
“CG TechnoDreams will use our hub to transmit 60 channels in the initial phase. Later, more DTH operators can join our network,” said Pradhan. He added that NT’s world class hub would be able to transmit 80-120 channels.
There are an estimated two million television households in the country. Each operator needs to create a subscriber base of 150,000 to survive. They can expect heavy competition from cable operators who are adding more channels with digital quality, said television experts.
“We are going to start this service to provide DTH services in rural areas,” said Bishwo Nath Goyal, NT deputy managing director.” If three-four DTH operators use our service, the transponder leasing cost would go down, and customers would be able to watch quality television for a monthly fee of Rs. 150-200.”
The Ministry of Information and Communications has given permission to nine firms, namely Satellite Channel, Dish Media Network, M Vision, CG Techno Dreams, Telko Investment, Marigold Entertainment, Cosmic Telecommunications Service, Biswabinayak Network and Clean Communications, to operate DTH services in the country.
Tele Direct, which had also obtained a permit to operate the service, withdrew its application citing lack of satellite transponders having a footprint in Nepal.
NT said it would most likely use INTELSAT with 72 MHz Ku-band transponders covering South Asia. The transponder leasing cost will be within US$ 3 million. If only one DTH operator uses the hub service, it will have to pay Rs. 10-20 million per month as hub station service charge. NT spokesperson Surendra Prasad Thike said that if more operators join their network, the charge would be reduced accordingly.
The government has issued licenses to six firms to operate direct to home (DTH) satellite television. However, experts have stated that three operators at the most would be able to operate the service as there aren't enough satellite transpon ...
Dish Media Network (DMN) —a new Direct To Home (DTH) platform in Nepal—on Friday announced it would start offering satellite television service digitally to people within two or three months. Initially, the company plans to transmit 74 nat ...
With two companies all set to introduce Direct to Home (DTH) service in the country, cable operators are upgrading their service levels and technology to avert the possible impact of DTH on their business. The cable operators, who have tot ...
Satellite Channel officially launched transmission of its Home TV DTH satellite television service on Saturday. Customers across the nation can watch high quality national and international channels. Minister for Information and Communica ...
[caption id="attachment_2951" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="Dish Nepal"][/caption] Dish Nepal Service Launch : Launched Installation Package : Rs. 8500 Monthly Charges : Rs. 250 for 50 channels / Rs.400 for 70 channels ...
Dish Nepal on Friday started test transmission of direct to home (DTH) satellite television service in the country from its station located at Durbar Marg, Kathmandu. In the test transmission phase, Dish Nepal successfully received audio v ...
Five companies have been permitted to operate Direct to Home (DTH) satellite television service in Nepal by setting up their own hub stations. Some of the companies receiving the license are from famous business houses. According to M ...
Spice Nepal Pvt Ltd, the first private mobile operator in the country, has changed its brand name and identity from Mero Mobile to Ncell. The re-branding comes as a part of the company´s strategy to further strengthen its position in Nepal ...
Subscribing to mobile phone services used to be a far-fetched dream for most Nepali till five years back because of high charges and expensive devices. Now, 30 out of 100 Nepalis are availing the service, thanks to the technology getting chea ...
Astronomers have shed light on how stars can form around a massive black hole, defying conventional wisdom. Scientists have long wondered how stars develop in such extreme conditions. Molecular clouds - the normal birth places of stars - wo ...
With less than five months left for the government’s most ambitious Tourism Year campaign, Nepal Tourism Year (NTY) 2011 coordination committee has planned to employ Direct Consumer Marketing through international TV channels. “As we have about ...
The Indian government has unveiled the prototype of an iPad-like touch-screen laptop, with a price tag of $35 (£23), which it hopes to roll out next year. Aimed at students, the tablet supports web browsing, video conferencing and word process ...
The Nepal Telecommu-nication Authority (NTA) has started a market feasibility study of the country's mobile telecom service to see if there is room for new operators. The NTA has selected ICON System Solutions and GateIn Services as consul ...
[caption id="attachment_3188" align="alignleft" width="275" caption="Airport Hotel, Near TIA"][/caption] Two new four-star hotels are beginning operation in Kathmandu Valley right on the eve of Nepal Tourism Year 2011. Implementing Expert Gro ...
Nepali Direct-to-Home (DTH) service providers, Home TV and Dish Nepal merged under a new brand name Dish Home. In a press statement, Dish Media Network has assured customers that their merger will help provide better service. Customers will ...
Tablet PC Prices in Nepal
Mobile Phone Prices in Nepal
LCD LED TV Prices in Nepal
Laptops Prices in Nepal
Bikes Prices in Nepal
New Loadshedding Timetable
List of Commercial Banks in Nepal