Kathmandu, 29 Bhadra: Telephone and internet services have reached Badimalika area of Bajura, which is important from a religious and tourism perspective. Nepal Telecom has expanded 4G service to Badimalika area, and mobile and internet services have been operational there since Monday.
The service has been operational on the eve of the religious fair to be held in Badimalika area on the occasion of Janai Purnima. It is expected that communication services will be easy for locals, pilgrims, tourists and various government and non-government bodies after the communication service reaches that area, which is at an altitude of about 4,200 meters above sea level.
The 4G service was brought into operation at around 1 pm on Monday after the tower installation work was completed. Minister for Information and Communications Dr. Bikram Timilsina, while inaugurating the service operation through virtual means, said that the government is committed to ensuring that citizens living in remote areas are not deprived of their basic right to communication. Minister of Communications Dr. Timilsina thanked the employees of Nepal Telecom who are continuously deployed to provide telecommunication services in the area, the Nepali Army who assisted in transporting goods via helicopter, and the people's representatives of Badimalika who coordinated and collaborated in the work.
Minister of Communications Timilsina, while mentioning that the government is celebrating this year as a year of unprecedented reforms and digital transformation in the telecommunication sector, said that the situation of any citizen being deprived of communication services due to geographically remoteness will be ended. He informed that the expansion of quality telephone and internet services to remote and tourist areas of the country has been taken forward with priority.
After the service operation, Minister of Communications Dr. Timilsina had a direct video call with the technicians of Nepal Telecom deployed in the Badimalika area to install the tower. He inquired about the status of service operation and the difficulties there with the employees of the Nepal Telecom Wireless Service Directorate and the Sudurpaschim Provincial Directorate deployed in the Badimalika area to construct the tower. During the video dialogue, Assistant Technical Officer Madhav Budhathoki, Engineer Sudarshan Acharya, Civil Engineer Deepak Raj Bhatta and other technicians informed about the work done during the installation of the tower and service operation.
Similarly, Nepal Telecom Managing Director Sangeeta Pahadi said that providing communication facilities to remote areas is a priority for the telecom. She informed that work is being done to improve the quality of service along with expanding the service access of the telecom. Managing Director Pahadi said that priority has been given to the responsibility of providing services to remote areas where access to communication services is weak rather than expanding services based solely on commercial benefits. She informed that new infrastructure is being built and services are being expanded in line with the objective of bringing communication services to citizens even in remote areas of the country.
About 1-month effort to install the tower successful
The government and Nepal Telecom had been working continuously for about a month to bring telephone services into operation in the Badimalika area. Minister for Communications Dr. Timilsina had directed Nepal Telecom on August 20 to immediately expand communication services in the Badimalika area. Showing serious concern over the lack of communication services in Badimalika, he directed to immediately proceed with the necessary process and to operate the service by resolving the technical and geographical challenges.
Following the instructions of Minister for Communications Dr. Timilsina, Nepal Telecom had initiated the necessary preparations for the construction of towers and operation of 4G services in the Badimalika area. As it was difficult to transport equipment and construction materials through the road network, the equipment and other materials required for the construction of the tower were transported to the Badimalika area through a Nepali Army helicopter.
Meanwhile, Minister for Communications Dr. Timilsina had also discussed with Mayor of Badimalika Municipality Amar Bahadur Khadka about the telecommunications infrastructure required there, possible tower installation sites and the condition of the road network. Since it was not possible to transport equipment and construction materials through the road, he had directed the concerned bodies to make arrangements to transport the materials through helicopters.
The Badimalika temple area is located at an altitude of about 4,200 meters above sea level. The tower was installed at a place called Lauri Binayak, which is at an altitude of about 4,230 meters, according to Nepal Telecom. The technical team worked under challenging conditions to install the tower in a very remote and high mountainous terrain. Although there are few permanent settlements in the Badimalika area, this area is important from a religious, tourist and trekking perspective, said Nepal Telecom's Assistant Technical Officer Madhav Budhathoki. Mobile and internet services are expected to be important for pilgrims and tourists reaching the Badimalika temple, various paths, trekking routes and the Triveni area.
Nepal Telecom had earlier set a target to operate services in Badimalika within the month of Shrawan. Although the work was initially planned to be completed by Shrawan 30, the service was launched a little later than the scheduled time due to adverse weather, high mountainous terrain and difficulties in transporting materials.
The government has declared the current fiscal year as the year of transformation of the telecommunications sector
