Government Preparations Not To Allow Internet Companies To Bring Bandwidth The government has started preparations to prevent Internet service provider companies from importing international bandwidth. The Ministry of Communication and Information Technology is going to form a committee to ensure that internet service providers cannot continue to import bandwidth.
Communication Minister Rekha Sharma formed a committee under the coordination of Joint Secretary Gaurav Giri to study the possibility of a bandwidth platform (international internet gateway) in Nepal when she assumed office for the second time on Falgun 23. Based on the report submitted by the committee, Minister Sharma has indicated that she is going to impose a strict policy on internet service providers.
While understanding the report, Minister Sharma said that although the management of international bandwidth is important in Nepal, the committee was formed because there was no necessary study on it. She also informed me that instructions will be given to the relevant agencies to proceed with the process for the work that can be done immediately based on the suggestions given in the report and to make necessary laws on other issues.
As there is no check and balance between the network service provider and the internet service provider, it seems that there is no consistency in the internet tariff and quality paid by the customers in the market,” the study committee said in its report. “Therefore, to prepare a clean competitive environment (level playing field) between the internet service providers, and network service to one organization, there is an urgent need to make arrangements so that the provider and the internet service provider do not play a dual role.”
At present, 23 companies have obtained the license of network service providers to import international bandwidth for the Internet in Nepal. As some buy less and some buy more bandwidth, the price per Mbps also varies according to the amount of bandwidth.
I can’t buy more than 60 percent bandwidth from a single upstream provider!
The committee has put forward the argument that the network service provider should purchase international bandwidth from at least two vendors to prevent internet service from being interrupted within the country. “In this way, when purchasing bandwidth, it seems appropriate to not purchase more than 60 percent from one vendor and to import the bandwidth from different ports when importing it to Nepal,” the report suggested.
A suggestion to study the topic of content filtering
The committee has suggested that more studies should be done on content filtering in Nepal.
The committee said that in order to properly manage network traffic coming from outside, to efficiently and safely flow data packets to other countries, and to regulate and monitor data privacy, relevance, cyber security, and other issues, such a mechanism should be studied.
It is also said that it would be appropriate to study more about the policy, legal, and structural arrangements required for that work.
In this context, the report of the committee has mentioned that in the context of Nepal, it is necessary to conduct a more detailed study on the international internet management system’s detailed framework, installation, operation modality, policy, legal and structural arrangements, etc.