Nepal Telecom (NTC), the country’s state-owned telecoms operator, has officially launched its long-awaited 5G trial to commemorate the company’s 19th anniversary. Nepal Telecom, the country’s state-owned telecom operator, had previously postponed 5G testing due to a lack of a device ecosystem. To commemorate its 19th anniversary, the telco tested its 5G cellular network in Babarmahal and Sundhara.
Spectrum
The network deployed in the Kathmandu districts of Sundhara and Babarmahal is using the 60 MHz spectrum in the 2600 MHz band given by the government. The 2600 MHz band provides a good balance of speed and coverage. According to a Nepalitelecom report, the trials are not available to the public and are conducted internally.
The initial trials, which were supposed to begin in January 2023, have already begun one month later than projected. Nepal Telecom’s July 2021 trials were canceled when a change in administration hindered the requisite spectrum allocation.
Sunil Paudel, MD of Nepal Telecom (NTC), has formally declared the launch of the long-awaited 5G experiment. However, no official launch date for 5G has been announced, however, officials have stated that it “should launch shortly.” Managing Director Sunil Paudel noted in a progress update on the company’s planned 5G rollout that Nepal Telecom (NT) has yet to evaluate the capabilities of its present mobile infrastructure to handle commercial 5G services in the future.
Non-Standalone 5G (NSA)
Nepal Telecom Corporation (NTC) will begin its 5G testing using Non-standalone (NSA) architecture and subsequently advance to Standalone architecture (SA). By changing the basic software, the NSA allows the operator to launch its 5G network on its existing 4G LTE infrastructure. The business has already developed two 5G-ready sites in Babarmahal and Sundhara. NTC is now testing available 5G devices on the network in Babarmahal and Sundhara, having installed the essential equipment at both locations.