Although Nepal Telecom and China Telecom Global reached an agreement to deliver IP services in Nepal back in December, it has not been able to acquire data to date as a result of an avalanche that hit the area where optical fibres are being laid, Shobhan Adhikari, joint spokesperson of NT, told the Kathmandu Post. “The avalanche disrupted connections on the Chinese side. It is difficult to reinstate the connection because of thick snow in the area.”
According to the report, the Chinese side has now used an alternative route, which is 20km longer, to lay down the cable, which will reportedly be completed by mid-April. However given the new route, tests on the network will have to be repeated and the system won’t become operational until the beginning of May.
The new China-Nepal route is a new direct alternative route for traffic demand generated from Nepal to all over the world, and provides high quality service and low latency for end -sers in Nepal.
"China Telecom is dedicated to expanding our footprint by connecting with neighbouring countries," said Ou Yan, executive vice president of China Telecom Global, adding the company has been fully committed to developing terrestrial cable connecting to neighbouring countries.
"The China-Nepal route could provide service to Nepal and transit service from India. China Telecom has put tremendous effort into building the route through the Himalayas. We are committed to delivering a state of the art route for Nepal Telecom."
Kamini Rajbhandari, managing director of Nepal Telecom, added: "Nepal Telecom would benefit from an additional route for connectivity. We are confident that China Telecom would provide reliable service and are looking forward to establishing Nepal as a transit hub through this route."