Kathmandu, September 11 : The Internet Service Providers’ Association of Nepal (ISPAN) in the country has said that a steep rise in the consumption of the internet has caused a slowdown in its speed.
“During the period of the coronavirus lockdown, the use of using social networking sites and Tiktok has gone up by as high as 40 percent. This is exerting extra burden on existing internet bandwidth capacity of the ISPs, this slowing down the internet speed,” said Bhojraj Bhatta, president, ISPAN, while speaking at a virtual programme organized by Society of Economic Journalists, Nepal (SEJON) here Thursday (September 11). N
Speaking on the same occasion, rural telecommunications expert, Pavan Shakya, observed that the internet is poor in terms of connectivity and content in the rural area. The urban areas have multiple options, but the rural area lacks it. “If the expansion of internet facility in rural area continues to be ignored, it will only widen the digital divide in the country.” he warned.
Similarly, Managing Director at Nepal Telecom, Dilliram Adhikari, said the rural telecommunication fund under NTA shall be mobilized for the expansion of internet in the geographically remote Karnali State. “The government needs to facilitate internet expansion especially in these places because ISPs are only inclined to provide services in the urban areas.
