Current ICT Infrastructure of Nepal and NREN Services

1. Current ICT Infrastructure of Nepal and NREN services Prashant Manandhar Nepal Research & Education Network (NREN). Prime College, Tribhuwan University South Asia Research and Education Networking Workshop Internet2 Spring Member Meeting, Arlington, Virginia, USA. 26 April 2007

2. Present Status of ICTInternet Status • Start Leased Line Cable and Radio Modems (19 Kbps-64Kbps) for Data Network in early 1995. • Start of ISDN and Wireless Internet Service – 2000 • Establishment of Nepal Internet Exchange (npIX) – 2002 • Start of Wireless broadband Service – 2003 • Start of Cable Internet Service – 2004 • Metro Ethernet to Home Internet – 2005 • Fiber Optics laid in National East-West Highway 2005 purposes for Data and Voice Telecom only, Gateway connection with BSNL, India, 2007. Next Phase to China. • Total Number of Internet Users – ~550,000, Number of ISPs – 26 • Number of Optical Fiber provider for cable TV- 5 • Number of Optical Fiber provider for Internet - 7 • Number of VSAT Network Service Providers – 8 • Total Internet Bandwidth: ~ 70 Mbps • National average bandwidth at NPIX: ~25 Mpbs

3. Present Status of ICTICT Infrastructure and Services • Telephone Service Providers – 3(NTC, UTL,STM) • PSTN Fixed Line Telephones – 600000 • Mobile Phone Service Provider – 3 (NTC, Spice Nepal, UTL) • Mobile Phone Subscribers GSM & CDMA – 110000 • Data not upto-date, as all providers are rapidly expanding • Number of Fax Mail Service Providers – 6 • Number of Satellite Telephone Service Providers – 3 • Number of Radio Paging Service Providers – 3 • Number of Local Data Network Service Providers – 2

4. Establishment of NREN The only one NREN of the country, Nepal Research and Education Network (NREN) has been established on Feb 2006 as a facilitator to support for advanced research and education network Through the means of Information and Communication Technology and as a knowledge centre to support good ICT initiatives and researcher in the country. This entity has been established as a non-profit network under the Prime College, affiliated to National Tribhuwan National University, collaboration with other Universities, Education Institutes, Research Institutions, National IX, National Telecom, Government and Non Government Organizations, Industry association, Interested Educationists and Individuals. www.nren.net.np. Using APAN network as a primary ICT infrastructure for advanced research. Providing ICT infrastructure to support development research and studies. Promoting and supporting APAN and its associated. Establishing connectivity for knowledge and information sharing carry out study and research on various subject matters by means of ICT.

5. ICT Infrastructure and Services Currently, our networks exist only in Capital city, we’re not connected yet to Global Research and education network. Commodity Internet: 256Kbps and Local Bandwidth: 10Mbps For Research and training Labs: • Routers: Cisco 1750 : 2 • Routers: Cisco 1700 Series : 20 • CISCO Catalyst 2950 Switch (24-port Fast Ethernet) : 8 • Servers • Linux and FreeBSD Server Systems: 2 • Windows 2003 Intranet Server : 1 • Workstations using Windows, Linux - 11 This lab is used for research, demonstration and testing of advanced networks and latest technologies by Local ISPs, NPIX and researchers. Wireless Networking Experiment Center

6. Current NREN Activity • Project Involvement and Research in various ICT fields as follow:. • The SIP phones is using to connect to different villages via the WI-FI devices and The monitoring and management system has been developed for each phone locations. The open source application has been use for this system. Implemented in Nepal Wireless Project. • E-learning for secondary higher education students at the villages in local language, Intranet Portal. • Telemedicine for Health Post in the villages and Video Conference for Telemedicine will be implement soon within the villages. • Hot Spot systems and its applications • Web GIS: A portal for GIS functionality as well as data distribution. • Mesh WI-FI implementation is under process. • All NREN members will be connecting through Optical Fibre very soon. • Computer Technical Troubleshooting knowledgebase information system in local Nepali language for communities on developing process.

7. Current NREN Activity Web enabled video, audio and text communication. • To fulfill the communicating gap between the remote health polyclinics and health post. • Enables the users to share their ideas and knowledge. • Enables them to communicate form remote places. • Distance check-up of the patients can be achieved be the specialist. • Distance learning is possible. Components Used: • VLC (video LAN Client) plug-ins. • Active-X components. • SIP Application (xlite phone).

8. Current NREN Activity

9. Current NREN Activity • WEBGIS: • With the development of WEB GIS, the Internet is now becoming a portal for GIS functionality as well as data distribution. • Web GIS have been continually improving in functionality, from simple data viewing abilities to performing spatial analysis and collaborative efforts in real time from remote locations .web GIS may eventually become the dominant format for accessing GIS. • The graphical snapshot of a pre-generated maps • Map Generators • Spatial Database Catalogs and Libraries • Real-time map browser • Real-time Maps and Images

10. Current NREN Activity Using Mapserver and PHP/ Mapscript

11. Current NREN Activity

12. Activity Coming Soon in NREN • Set up ICT infrastructure for connecting all national universities, institutions, research consortium and APAN members around world. • IPV6 implementation in all NREN members by July 2007, tunneling through local ISPs. • Local ISPs ready to provide unused local capacity for NREN Use at discounted rates to connect other cities.Specially, Helping by Nepal Telecom. • Waiting for TIEN3 project and Internet2 Network may be help us to get connection of Global Research and education network.

13. HealthNet Nepal Connectivity Medium • connectivity medium consist of Fiber optics, wireless link through radio modem, and dial-up connection through E1-leased line. • In extending the connectivity medium collaboration is done with local ISPs partners. • Serving Internet service to >5000 individuals dialup clients; Doctors, Nurses, Students • 5 hospitals,medical related research intuitions and Polyclinics. • Total Local Bandwidth 10Mbsps, Commodity Internet- 1Mbps.

14. Network of Nepal Telecom Present Optical Fiber Backbone Network of Nepal Telecom

15. Network of Nepal Telecom Present Optical Fiber Backbone: Route Length of East-West OF Network: Approx. 900 Km (Single Mode- 24 Core fibers, 3x40/33 mm HDPE ducts laid in parallel). Backbone capacity: STM-4 (252 E1). SDH Equipments (Siemens): 6xSTM-16, 19xSTM-4 & 54xSTM-1. Links 18 districts and 79 Exchanges Far Western Refion section yet to be completed (approx. 350 Km) Already Connected with India on Jan 2007.

16. Network of Nepal Telecom • Arniko Highway NG-SDH Backbone: Survey & Design review work completed • Expected project execution date:- by end of 2007 • Funding:- Arniko Highway NG-SDH project with grant from Government of China and other by NT’s own fund • Proposed Regional/Sub-Regional NG-SDH Optical Fiber Backbone: • Based on Next Generation(NG)/MSTP platform and with DWDM (1st time in NT’s network) • Broadband TDM & IP Backbone with the same SDH equipment. • All equipments are OMSN Nodes (voice, data and video on single platform, MSTP). • Core Router/L3 switch at each station( with FE, GE, E1 & STM-1 interface). • DWDM equipments are used between Hetauda and Patan and other stations are also ready for DWDM connection( by color interface/transponder) • All Regional Nodes are STM-64 (10G) type & Sub-Regional nodes are STM-16 (2.5 G) type. • Out of 10G bandwidth 2.5G allocated for Data services and SAN services. • TDM and IP bandwidth can be adjusted dynamically. • Application: inter-exchange connectivity, TDM services, carry secured Broadband data/video services like ADSL, VPN, IP-TV, VoD, Triple-play & other IP based services.

17. Network of Nepal Telecom • Features: proposed Arniko Highway Optical Fiber Backbone: • Link Kathmandu with Khasa, China via Tatopani (approx. 115 Km) • Sixteen (16) nodes between Kathmandu and Tatopani (5x STM-16 nodes, 4x STM-4 nodes and 7xSTM-1 nodes) with PoS and FE interface. • Type of OF cable: 36 fiber, single mode (G.652, 1310/1550 nm) • Application: Interconnectivity of exchanges in the route, Build information highway between Nepal & China, Create an alternate international gateway route via Hong Kong( no dependency on present satellite link with limited resource), Enhancement of ICT development in Nepal, Greatly help ISD and internet traffic, can create information highway between India and China etc.

18. Member NRENNepal Wireless Project • 1997 started in one village (Himanchal Higher Secondary School, Nangi village). • Introduced the Information technology to villagers, most of whom had never seen computers until a few years ago. Most of the villagers still have no idea as what the uses of the computers and Internet are. • Nangi village is located in north west of Nepal on the Annapurna and Dhaulagiri ranges of the Himalayas. Reaching Nangi usually requires two to three days of travelling from Nepal’s capital city, Kathmandu. From Kathmandu, it is a seven hour bus ride or 35 minute plane trip to Pokhara, the second largest city in Nepal. The elevation of Nangi village is about 2,260 m. (7,345 ft). • Target group is the people living in the remote villages of Nepal, where villagers have no means of modern communication means. 15 nodes and next 11 villages (from kathmandu 90KM) to be connect by June 2007.

19. Nepal Wireless Project

20. Thank you!prashant@prime.edu.npmanandhar_prashant@yahoo.com