IPTV allows customers having Internet access to enjoy television programs with or without any wire connection with better quality of voice and picture. [break] Besides, subscribers to 3G can also have access to IPTV from their handsets.
The government has recently formed a taskforce consisting of four members and is headed by under secretary of the Ministry of Information and Communications (MoIC), Dhanaraj Gyanwali. Other members in the taskforce include under-secretary Anup Nepal and one official each from Nepal Telecommunicaiton Authority (NTA) and Nepal Telecom (NT).
Spokesperson of MoIC Sushil Ojha said licenses will be awarded shortly as the taskforce will submit the report in two weeks. “The taskforce will conduct necessary study and suggest licensing procedure and requirements to the ministry,” he added.
The guidelines for awarding license to be prepared by the taskforce will incorporate the conditions for license, license fee, renewal period, among others. Nine operators have formally applied for licenses to run IPTV services and nearly another dozen companies have expressed interest in adopting this technology.
After the amendment in Broadcasting Act about two years ago, license to operate IPTV was opened. But unfortunately, lack of proper guidelines turned out to be a major barrier for officials of MoIC to go ahead and award the licenses.
Sudhir Parajuli, CEO of Subisu Cable Network who is already offering digital TV services, said, “Newer technology is a must in a competitive market and introduction of IPTV can offer more local content.”Operators have expressed their interest in introducing their own channels with local content.
Officials said those interested in operating IPTV are mainly Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and cable operators. Unique Space Cable, Kantipur Broadband, Nepal Dish TV, Itahari and Shangi-La Channel had applied for the license to run IPTV services over six months ago. Other operators waiting in the queue from last year are WordLink, Himalayan Online Service, M-Vision Private Limited and Malekhu Cable.
Similarly, NT and Nepal Television (NTV) are preparing to introduce IPTV with the assistance of International Telecommunication Union (ITU). As per the preliminary discussion, NT will provide technical infrastructure, including optical fiber, while NTV will provide contents for IPTV.
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