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News

Nepal’s Ministry of Communication, Internet and Technology (MoCIT) has requested that the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) stops removing internet cables from its utility poles

This week, the ongoing conflict between Nepal’s internet service providers and the NEA has escalated yet further, with the MoCIT formally asking the NEA to stop removing internet service cables from its utility poles.

For many years, Nepal’s ISPs have been using the NEA’s utility poles to host internet and TV cables, a highly efficient strategy for rapidly deploying networks across the country at minimal cost.

However, around a year ago, the NEA announced it would be increasing the rent on the use of its utility poles to host internet cables – in some cases by up to 700%.

Naturally, this price hike posed a considerable concern to the ISPs, who took to legal channels to complain.

Shortly after the increase was announced, the ISPs told the Nepal Telecommunication Authority (NTA) that they would need to pass on these costs to customers, raising monthly subscription prices by around 150 Rs (~$1.13) in rural areas and 300 Rs (~$2.27) in urban areas to handle this increased rental price.

According to The Internet Connectivity Index-2021, the average monthly charge for broadband services in Nepal in 2021 was 1,600 Rs (~$12.10).

By October 2022, the ISPs were still disputing the new pricing and refusing the pay the increased fees, hence the NEA began removing internet cabling from their utility poles in various regions in, causing significant disruption to internet services.

The move was met with condemnation by both the ISPs and the NTA, with the latter suggesting that the NEA could potentially be punished by law for obstructing services.

This week, with the cables’ removal still ongoing, the Internet Service Providers’ Association of Nepal (ISPAN) has called for government intervention to stop the NEA, arguing that the ISPs were being unfairly pressured to pay the unilaterally increased fees.

The NEA, on the other hand, says it is simply following legal procedure, removing the cables from its infrastructure due to lack of payment.

Now, the MoCIT itself has been forced to weigh in on the conflict, requesting that the NEA cease removing the cables due to the internet’s integral role in public life. It urged the NEA and the ISPs to come to a speedy compromise, noting that internet access is key to the Digital Nepal Framework, the government’s 2019 plan to increase digital literacy and ICT access throughout the country.

The MoCIT has officially requested that the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation, which oversees the NEA, order the energy provider to cease its disruptive activity.

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Press Release

Orange is announcing the signature of a memorandum of agreement with Reservoir Sun, a leading player in self-supply solar electricity systems for companies and local government, to set up a photovoltaic power station in Bercenay-en-Othe (Aube)

The station is due to go online in 2025. The project’s first major milestone is the environmental impact analysis.

To fulfill its environmental commitments, Orange is increasingly turning to renewable sources of energy and wishes to accelerate this transition by making the most of solar energy on its tertiary and technical sites. The Group will therefore deploy its first solar farm in France and in Europe[1] on the strategic satellite communications site at Bercenay-en-Othe. The farm will cover a surface area of 50,000 m2, or the equivalent of seven football pitches.  With an installed capacity of 5 MW (1MW for self-consumption and 4MW for reinjection), the power station will supply 20% of the site’s energy needs and surplus electricity can be fed back to the grid. This locally generated, low-carbon electricity corresponds to the annual energy consumption of 1,700 homes and will save over 100 tons of CO2 every year.

The first milestone, starting today, is the environmental impact analysis required to carry out the project, in agreement with the DREAL (Regional Directorate for the Environment, Planning and Housing). This study will be carried out over a period of up to 12 months, or four seasons, to determine the potential impact of the project on living species on the site. The study of the natural environment aims to minimize the impact of the facilities and to recreate, if required, species’ habitats.

Michaël Trabbia, interim CEO for Orange Wholesale and International Networks, declared: “We are happy and proud to launch an ambitious local solar farm project at our Bercenay-en-Othe site. This solar farm reflects our additionality approach and is fully in line with our strategy to develop the use of low-carbon energies, in order to contribute to our environmental commitments. This project thus contributes to securing our energy supply while decarbonizing our activities. »

Mathieu Cambet, Managing Director of Reservoir Sun: “Reservoir Sun is very proud to have been chosen by Orange as a trusted partner for its first solar power project on one of its own sites. We hope that this shared project will mark the start of a strong collaboration to take on the challenges of decarbonization and local energy production.”

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News

Bullitt Satellite Connect will reportedly ensure that customers are connected “wherever you have a clear view of the sky”

This week, at the CES show in Las Vegas, UK-based rugged phone manufacturer has shed light on its much-anticipated Bullitt Satellite Connect service, a two-way satellite messaging service.

Using proprietary software and service components, Bullitt Satellite Connect will provide text messaging services via an app, Bullitt Satellite Messenger. Messages will be relayed via satellite, allowing customers assurance that they will never be without signal so long as they are outside.

The service will first attempt to connect to Wi-Fi or a cellular network, but when these are unavailable it will connect via satellite. Messages sent from Bullitt Satellite Messenger can be received as a simple SMS on smartphones without the app; the receiving party will, however, need to download the app in order to reply.

In addition to messaging, the service will also offer more typical satellite services, such as location tracking and SOS assistance.

Subscriptions for the service will begin at $4.99 a month, with the SOS assistance free for the first year.

“Bullitt Satellite Connect solves a real connectivity problem. American’s send 6 billion SMS text messages each day* but, due to the sheer scale and topography of the country, no single carrier covers more than 70% of the US land mass and around 60 million Americans lose coverage for up to 25% of each day**,” said Richard Wharton, Co-Founder at Bullitt Group.

“That means hundreds of millions of instances where people who want to communicate via their phone cannot. Coverage blackspots persist to a greater and lesser extent the world over. We have a truly international solution. Bullitt Satellite Messenger provides total reassurance that you will have a connection wherever you have a clear view of the sky.”

These capabilities have reportedly been developed over the past two years working alongside partners including chip giant MediaTek, satellite partner Skylo, critical event response specialist FocusPoint International, and others.

The first smartphone to support this new messaging service will be the next device in Motorola’s Defy range, the full details of which have yet to be announced. Bullitt and Motorola first struck a strategic alliance back in January 2021.

Bullitt says the new service is set for commercial launch later this quarter.

*Source: CTIA

**Source: https://www.opensignal.com/2019/09/24/mobile-experience-in-rural-usa-an-operator-comparison

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Internet service provider iTalk has finally branched-out beyond its old ADSL and Fibre-to-the-Cabinet (FTTC / VDSL2) based home broadband packages by launching a new range of Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) powered services on Openreach’s national network. Some of their new full fibre packages have also been discounted. Each of the new full fibre packages include a digital […]