Mar 23, Kathmandu: The Minister of Communication and Information Technology(MCIT) and the Spokesperson of the Government of Nepal Rekha Sharma have requested the Government of India to reduce the toll rate charged when making telephone calls from India to Nepal. It is mentioned that Minister Sharma requested the same in the bilateral meeting with his Indian counterpart held in New Delhi on Wednesday.

There is a huge disparity in telephone rates between Nepal and India. Nepalis residing in India are complaining that they are charged excessive charges when making telephone calls in Nepal," Minister Sharma said, adding that the terminal charges between the two countries should be reviewed and services should be provided at an affordable tariff rate.

Drawing attention to the fact that since Nepal and India are close neighbors, there are occasional inter-country interruptions in telecommunication services, and in some cases, Indian mobile services are available even to the interior of Nepal, Minister Sharma said, "I see that the service providers and regulatory bodies of both countries should be aware of this."

Likewise, Minister Sharma drew the attention of Indian officials to the fact that Indian television channels are easily broadcast in Nepal, but it is difficult for Nepali channels to be broadcast in India. She said, "Since there is a large number of Nepali speakers in India, I request that Nepali channels should be broadcasted easily."

He said that it was not possible to downlink the Nepali channel in India because of the high fees, so there should be special instructions from the Indian government. Expressing her hope that the inauguration of the International Telecommunication Union regional office in India will help the telecommunication-related activities in the region, she congratulated the Indian government for establishing this office in New Delhi in this era of rapid development of information technology.

She also expected cooperation from India to ensure access to submarine cable so that Nepal can get international bandwidth. Reminding that currently, Nepal receives Internet bandwidth through Indian service providers, she requested that since 80 percent of the bandwidth Nepal receives comes from one point (Bhairawa-Sunauli) only, the Indian service providers should be facilitated to provide bandwidth through alternative routes as well.

Mentioning that since India has introduced 5G technology in mobile services, the experience regarding its implementation and usage can be beneficial for Nepal as well. While thanking the Government of India for offering Nepal to use the satellite, she informed me that she would study more about its technical and operating costs and come to a conclusion.