Government to hire consultant to hold study on satellite

THE government is preparing to hire a consultant to conduct a feasibility study for placing the country’s own satellite in the orbital slot allocated by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU). ITU, a UN body for information and communication technologies, has made it mandatory for Nepal to claim the slot by 2015 to keep the satellite, according to the Communications Ministry. Nepal was allocated 50-degree east and 123.3-degree east orbital slots in the space for placing the satellite in 1984 by the ITU. A five-member committee lead by Narayan Sanjel, joint secretary at the Communications Ministry, is carrying out the study on the method and workplace for the feasibility study. The budget for the current fiscal year 2013-14 has also announced conducting the study. The budget has not talked about the resources required for the study, but it is estimated to cost Rs 100 million. The feasibility study will determine the size of the investment required, business models for commercial purpose and need for enhancing broadcasting, national defence, telecommunications sector and weather forecasting, among others. Even as the ITU allocated the orbital slot to Nepal in 1984, the government has not shown seriousness to the issue. “Even as the country was allocated the slots a long time ago, the government has not been able to utilise it,” said Mahesh Prasad Adhikari, a board member of the Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA). He said the Communications Ministry has initiated efforts to make sure that the orbital slots are not “lapsed”. Earlier in 2011-12, the NTA had planned to study the utilisation of the orbital slots using the resources available in the Rural Telecommunications Development Fund. But the NTA failed to do so for the lack of coordination with the Communications Ministry. Now, the Communications Ministry has started its own study and plans to select a consultant and start a feasibility study within a year. The five-member study committee includes one official each from the NTA, Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment and Nepal Television. Anup Nepal, deputy secretary at the Communications and a member of the government’s study team, said they would submit their study report within two weeks stating the move to be taken by the government for satellite affairs. “We at least have to start preparations to place the satellite and inform the ITU by 2015 to reserve the space allotted,” he added. Since the required investment is too huge, the study will also suggest investment models for inviting international investors to launch the satellite and sharing the capacity and revenue with the government. He said their preliminary study has shown that it would take around seven years to bring the satellite into full operation after the launch. The cost to launch the country’s own satellite is estimated to cost around Rs 35 billion and requires operation commitment for 20-25 years, the ministry officials said.