Kathmandu, February 12:

Nepal Telecom (NT) has started its KU Band VSAT terminal connection in village development committees (VDCs).

“With the KU Band VSAT terminals we will be able to make telephone service accessible to people there,” said NT spokesperson Surendra Thike.

According to Thike, the NT service is available in more than 3,200 VDCs and also at those places where VSAT has not reached due to infrastructure problems.

The KU Band VSAT terminal connection project started from February 4 in Myagdi. “We are trying to establish 550 terminals and hope to complete the project in two phases. During this fiscal year around 150 terminals will get established and till date about 3 terminals have been set up,” Thike said.

Through the terminal, four telephone lines and one internet service will be provided while among the four telephone lines one will be used for public call office and the remaining three will be used according to the demand of the locals, Thike said.

Till the end of Poush, NT granted 3.43 million landline (PSTN), GSM Mobile and CDMA fixed and mobile connections — 22,25,707 GSM mobile; 6,32,005 CDMA and 5,46,076 landline (PSTN), according to recent NT data.

Meanwhile, NT’s PSTN service has reached 73 districts while all 75 districts of the country have CDMA and GSM mobile connections. The number of ADSL users till the month of Poush was 14,077.

According to NT, the company will establish BTS towers to enhance the GSM and CDMA mobile services. Till the end of Poush, the company brought 831 BTS towers into operation.