Key ICT Information

• PC penetration in Nepal is continually on the rise and is at estimated approximately at 0.86 per 100 inhabitants.
• The IT Policy 2000 aims at exporting software and related services worth Rs 10 billion by 2005
• There are some 15 software-developing companies, and five or six are export-oriented while the rest cater to the limited demands of the local market.
• In 1999 the teledensity reached one line per 100 inhabitants. According to the Nepal Telecommunication Corporation (NTC), the teledensity, that is telephone lines per 100 inhabitants, reached 1.42 in August 2002.
• The cell phone service was launched in the year 1999.
• The number of cell phone subscribers per 100 inhabitants is now 0.099 or a total of 23,082 subscribers as of August 2002.

IT Industry

• It was the private sector that first connected Nepal to the Internet in 1995. Since then 12 Internet Service Providers (ISPs) have begun their operations in the country.
• Of this total five of them are VSAT (Very Small Aperture Terminal) providers.
• The average connection speeds available to consumers and businesses are 33.6 Kbps and 56 Kbps.
• The current international uplink bandwidth for the Internet in Nepal is close to 18 Mbps, with Mercantile Communications alone having a 10 Mbps downlink and 2 Mbps uplink capacity.
• Data from principal ISPs show that there are an estimated 100,000 subscribers to their services. ITU estimated that there were 35,000 users in 2000 and 50,000 in 2001.
  

ICT affordability and connectivity

• Although 12 municipalities in Nepal are served by ISPs, most of the subscribers and users are concentrated in Kathmandu.
• Likewise, the August 2002 teledensity data for the rural areas is 0.127 while it is 14.74 in the urban areas. 1,761 out of 4,000 Village Development Committees (VDCs) have access to telephones as of August 2002.
• The 2001 national census shows that 85.8% of the total population resides in the rural areas.
• The major factors hindering access to ICT services in the rural areas, apart from the inadequate rural telecommunication and electricity infrastructure, are widespread illiteracy (40 %) and the "under poverty- line" population (39 %).
• The ITU survey report 2000 estimates that international organizations based in Nepal are the major consumers of Internet services, (20%), while home users account for 20%, government 5%, NGOs 15%, educational institutions 10% and business organizations 30%.
• It is estimated that over 2,000 units of branded PCs and around 8,000 pieces of locally assembled PCs are sold in Nepal each year.
• PC Sales are growing by an estimated 20% annually.
• According to the January 2002 statistics released by CAN, the number of computers in use in Nepal at present is close to 200,000. This translates into a PC penetration rate of approximately 0.86 per 100 inhabitants.
• The total number of private firms engaged in the IT sector exceeds 1000. The majority are concentrated in Kathmandu Valley. More than half of these companies provide various levels of training in ICTs.
• Five Nepalese universities are offering ITrelated academic courses.
• The total number of private firms engaged in the IT sector exceeds 1000. The majority are concentrated in Kathmandu.
• The state-owned, Nepal Telecommunications Corporation, is setting up 1,000 VSAT connections for rural telephony with the aim of providing at least two telephones to each Village Development Committee by 2004.
• Nepal formulated a policy for developing information and communication technologies effective from 23 October 2000. The policy offers a vision of putting Nepal onto the global IT map within the next five years.

ISP regulations

• Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA) is the telecommunications regulatory body of Nepal. It is an autonomous body established on Feb 1998 in accordance to the Telecommunications Act, 1997 and Telecommunications Regulation, 1997.
• The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the government have recently signed an agreement to run a $625,000 two-year pilot project on ICTs.

Initiatives

Education

One of the important initiatives taken by the Ministry of Science and Technology in line with the IT policy 2000 has been on human resources development (HRD). The ministry claims it is determined to have at least 10,000 people trained during 2003 in IT at the semi-skilled, skilled and advanced level categories. The selection process to appoint principal training institutes for this massive undertaking has begun. It is learnt that the target for the next three years is to provide intermediate and advanced IT training to 50,000 youths. The other significant development in the field of HRD during 2002 is the study loans being provided to IT students by the Employees' Provident Fund and Everest Bank Pvt. Ltd. In a programme, the Ministry of Science and Technology and Employment Promotion Commission (EPC) have approved a training-cum-employment program for 1,500 people in medical transcription in association with Unlimited Numedia (P) Ltd. aimed at increasing the availability and accessibility of geographic information for decision-making.

e-Governance - Bharatpur Municipality

Bharatpur Municipality has tried to introduce the concept of urban e-governance by utilizing available resources. All 14 wards of the municipality will be equipped with computers and trained staff. People will be provided with computerized services for taxation, employment exchange, building permits, property valuation and other transactions. Services, which used to be available only at the main municipality office, will now be delegated to the ward level. The people may request for information via e-mail. The website <http://www.bharatpurmun.org.np> of the municipality provides information on the city profile, land use, the Local Governance Act, regulations, important decisions of the municipality, population, land records, tourist information, registration of complaints etc.

The municipality will orient its efforts towards e-governance as the first step, promote the use of computers and expand computerized services in the second step, and utilize electronic means for governance to the full extent in the third step. The vision of e-governance in Bharatpur Municipality may be a catalyst to initiate e-governance in the Kingdom of Nepal at the local levels.

Information Sharing - International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD)

The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) has developed a framework for sharing and exchange of geographic information over the Internet. It is aimed at increasing the availability and accessibility of geographic information for decision-making. A number of GIS layers of Nepal and integrated with socio-economic data have been prepared so far.

For HRD, a long-term programme with the slogan "Computer education to all by 2010 A.D." has been formulated.

Source: Digital Review for Asia Pacific