Nepal's introduction to computers and international networks is nascent but it is expanding rapidly. Although it always has analog phones starting early part of the 20th century this privilege was limited to the nobility and a few well-to-do in the Kathmandu valley. Even though during subsequent five-year-planning phases a few hundred phone lines were added they were never sufficient. The international reach was significantly improved when Sagarmatha Ground Station was bought from British Telecom in the early 1980s. Also in early 1980s significant cabling in the Kathmandu valley and expasion of line capacity allowed more telephony in people's lives. Yet the infamous "ten year wait" for a single phone line continues.
Although the Nepal Computer Center, a government entity was using mid-size computers in the 1970s, the local retailers really pushed the door of hardware and software. Today 80486 and Pentium computers are quite ubiquitous as well as a wide array of Apple and some IBM and other brands including NCR, etc.
Socio-politically Nepal's closed borders became freer for international travel in the 1970s. Hence, many people managed to get training abroad and still many more ventured out, primarily to the US or the UK, mostly on foreign university/government scholarships and came in contact with the rapid pace of internetworking. In 1989 some Nepalis in the US started soc.culture.nepal newsgroup in the Usenet bulletin board on the Internet. Slowly the number of Nepalis on the net grew. The desire for "email to Nepal" was VERY strong. In 1990, some including the "Samachar-Bichar" publication's team was experimenting with modem-to-modem transmission of PageMaker files to Nepal from the US incurring $3/minute charges.
In 1994, Mercantile Office Systems and Royal Nepal Academy of Scient and Technology contracted an Internet feed from a site in India. Since the transmission was over cable, the quality of the line was VERY poor and the UUCP connection was not reliable. It was not uncommon to try several hundred time to retrieve a few messages from the spooled computer in India. This effort was commercialized although there were significant losses. However, the CEO, Mr Sanjib Raj Bhandari considered it a necessary investment for the future of internetworking in Nepal
Also in 1994 Sanjay Manandhar volunteered to set up a private net called HealthNet for Satellife in Cambridge, US. It was started using the same UUCP technology. However, the mail exchange was with a computer in Cambridge, US over good international lines. Hence, the throughput and reliability was good and several hospitals and doctors were, therefore, connected to the network of healthcare providers in the world.
As of January 1996 only these two nets allowed limited access (email and some newsgroups) to the Internet. Mercantile was experimented and later provided more Internet functionality such as file-transfer (ftp), remote logging in (telnet), etc. but did not have enough bandwidth to provide WWW commercially.
Usage
Currently, only the Mercantile network is fully commercial. HealthNet is available to the health and development community for a subsidized fee.
The majority of the users are foreign development workers expatriated to Nepal. Many non-governmental organizations and some offices have also started using the email service. It is still a novelty and VERY expensive even by Western standards which means only those with Western salaries or those who value instant access or an alternative to pitifully poor paper mail would pay for email. There is not real WWW yet for commercial use but it is because of bandwidth issues (see below).
Barriers to Expansion
Connectivity
Probably the most insidious reason for slow expansion of
internetworking using phone lines is the lack of lines. A single PTT,
Nepal Telecommunications Corporation, is responsible for providing for
all communications needs of the country. Although a very well-endowed
organization that is operationally very profitable it is not run
efficiently nor is its pricing, services or investment into new lines
commendable. A maze of bureaucracy where important ministries
including the finance ministry, telecommunications ministry and the
ministry of commerce including NTC and NCC have created the larged
gridlock in Nepal. In addition, the upper management of some of these
organization seem to fear the new technologies or at least seem to
want to control it even when distinct knowledge may be lacking. Many
middle managers, however, seem to be eagerly looking forward to an
exciting new world of high connectivity. There is some talk to
privatization of NTC. Although a World Bank report was written in
early 1990s, the likelihood is not imminent.
Power Problems
Many machines and technologies developed in the West have no regard
for power usage: they assume unlimited, clean, uninterrupted and cheap
power. Power in Nepal is a very expensive and scarce resource which is
sometimes so noisy that many equipment from household equipment to
office equipment and even large factory machines have been damaged.
Similarly the intermittent nature of power had made Nepal a very good
market for UPS systems built but rarely seen the West.
Language Issues
Nepal's literacy is 25% according to official figures. However, if
you count only those that can use a normal word processor on a
computer or read computer terminology in English, this statistic could
very well be 2%. Thus, although English is increasingly understood,
the dominant nature of English in computer hardware, software and even
computer culture is a barrier to sweeping influence of networks in
Nepal.
Cost of hardware/software
Despite the commoditization of computer hardware, due to strict and
expensive tarrifs at customs, computers are still jewellery items in
Nepal. Lack of port also means every piece of hardware is usually
comes via air freight. The international pricing of software also does
not apply to Nepal and many Asian countries where copying of software
is rampant. Even though most business are now aware of the benefits of
having a computer, they cannot afford it.
Trends
Despite all the probles, the trend of computerization and networking in Nepal is on the rise and will continue to rise. The first computer show ever of Nepal was held in January 1995 by Computer Association of Nepal. Awareness, especially among the young is very high. Many small companies even write software for the local market, mostly in 4GL languages.
One of the greatest problem for international connectivity is being addressed step by step (although it never seems fast enough). In mid-1995 NTC installed X.25 with the help of a foreign donor. There have been talk of licensing the cellular and paging and also high bandwidth digital lines to private parties. The trend is clearly towards a higher bandwidth world; the price might, however, be prohibitive for the local people making these services a tool of internal business or expatriates.
In addition, there is tremendous interest in the Internet. There also also more Nepalis abroad who are familiar with and knowledgeable about the latest technologies. Some who have returned are starting to use their knowledge. True to its history of ingenuity and adaptability Nepal is slowly leapfroging the industrial revolution and plunging slowly but surely into the information era.