INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Providing internet service through underground cable system is challenging
Kathmandu, December 26
Tourism enterprises in Thamel area which
have been deprived of landline telephone and internet services continue to be affected, as campaigners involved in clearing the area of
dangling wires said the drive will take a few more days.
Thamel Tourism Development Council had launched the drive to remove all types of
wires dangling from utility poles from December 15
The Council had said it would remove all the dangling wires within a week, allowing telephone and internet services to resume afterwards
But, 11 days after the campaign began, TTDC officials said a few more days were needed to completely clear the tourist hub of the dangling
Punya Ram Lageju Treasurer of TTDC said they faced hardships while clearing the messy wires, whichprolonged the work
The work was also halted for three days for Christmas celebration in the area.
&We encountered some problems whileinitiating the drive
Now since everything has been settled it will take only a few more days to rid Thamel of messy wires,& Lageju said.
Internet Service
Providers& Association of Nepal,which had been strongly lobbying against the campaign said they had no options but to provide internet
services through wires distributed from utility poles.
Majority of the wires removed from utility poles belonged to internet service
providers and Nepal Telecommunication Authority.
A recently held joint meeting of all stakeholders including TTDC and ISPANhad reached a
three point agreement to curb existing problem of dangling wires.
The agreement said wires of all kinds inside one square kilometre of core
Thamel area should be provided through undergroundducting within three months.
Until underground ducting is carried out all the internet
service providers should clip wires on the walls of houses,which needed to be removed once underground ducting is completed.
Bhoj Raj Bhat,
chair of ISPAN, however, strongly opposed the idea of clipping wires on the walls ofprivate houses as convincing the house owners would be a
He also said underground ducting in country like Nepal was not easy as every day the public and the government bodies are found digging the
road for multiple purposes like drinking water supply and sewerage management.
&If TTDC had sought our help before abruptly cutting the
wires, we would have provided a better solution,& Bhat said.
He also said fixing new wires to resume services might take from one to two
TTDC said they had informed all stakeholders and published a public notice on a national daily days before the campaign began.
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Thamel business likely to suffer for more days appeared first on The Himalayan Times.
