KATHMANDU: On the occasion of ICT Week 2021, MoCIT organised a webinar with panelists from Huawei, UNCDF, CAN Federation, FNCCI, KU, and MoCIT who discussed about their efforts with ICT in respective fields.
William Zhang, CEO of Huawei Nepal gave a short presentation highlighting its contribution and plan for the Digital Nepal. Mr. Christopher Wolff from UNCDF talked about Inclusive Digital Economies Score (IDES) in Nepal. Narayan Thapa from CAN Federation presented on Vision for ICT Growth in Nepal.
Mangesh Lal Shrestha from FNCCI discussed on how to move forward for ICT Development and Digital Economy. Manish Pokharel from KU highlighted on the role of ICT in education during and after the pandemic. Anil K. Dutta, Chief Joint Secretary, Information Technology Division, MOCIT, discussed about Digital Nepal Framework, being included as the game changer project on the current 15th periodic plan.
Hari Bashyal – Secretary, MoCIT thanked everyone for being a part of the discussion on role of ICT Sector in Nepal. He also thanked Huawei and said ‘I would like to express my sincere thanks to Huawei Nepal who has been supporting and promoting ICT development in Nepal as a vendor’s role.”
In the webinar, William discussed about ICT infrastructure as an indispensable part of Digital Nepal. Working in line with the government’s plan to accelerate quality telecommunication service at an affordable price, Huawei is committed to contributing to Nepal’s digital foundation, including high quality, wide coverage and affordable broadband connectivity and advanced Data Center, with all telecom operators, ISPs, government and all ICT stakeholders in Nepal.
Huawei has made four recommendations to create a healthier and more sustainable environment for ICT industry in Nepal:
Improve the spectrum utilization
Introduce more broadband provider to reduce the cost of International Bandwidth
Tower sharing between operates and government fund to build towers in remote areas
Improve the user experience of broadband internet MBB & FBB
“It is a visionary decision of Nepal Government to conduct the policy initiating 5G trail in Nepal,” William congratulated the government of Nepal on joining the 5G club, “Huawei, as a leading 5G technology vendor, is ready to collaborate with industry partners, to promote digital transformation and support post-pandemic social and economic recovery in Nepal.”
The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the need for digital connectivity and transformation. According to William, Huawei Nepal has been continuously working and contributing to Nepal’s ICT sector during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The ICT infrastructure and solution provider helped to maintain the network of major telecom operators in Nepal run smoothly, and make broadband internet access possible during the lockdown. It has supported the digital transformation of different enterprises in Nepal during the pandemic by using Huawei Cloud, data center and other enterprise solution to improve their digitalization level. Further, Huawei has also been deploying 4G expansion with operators to build wider coverage, better quality of internet connectivity.