As tourists continue to flock to Nepal – famous for harboring the world’s tallest mountain peak, Mount Everest – Nokia and WorldLink are teaming up to upgrade the country’s broadband backbone.
The companies say they are partnering to update 650 kilometers (around 400 miles) of Nepal’s internet backbone network to include Nokia’s 1830 Photonic Service Switch (PSS) Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM) technology. The pair indicate the changes will yield a 100G optical network capable of delivering high-bandwidth services such as HD and 4K video, internet TV, and enterprise services across the country.
“WorldLink has a commitment to Nepal to transform the communications landscape so that our people and enterprises thrive,” WorldLink CTO Samit Jana comments. “This is our largest project to date and it will allow us to provide ultra-fast broadband services for our mobile and fixed network subscribers in cities as well as rural areas across the country.”
The companies report the upgraded network will stretch from Nepal’s capital Kathmandu to outlying cities like Bhairahawa and Birgunj, as well as international connectivity to countries including India.
“We are proud to be part of WorldLink’s vision to transform Nepal’s communications architecture by providing the first 100G transport network,” Head of Nokia’s India Market Sanjay Malik adds. “Nokia’s highly scalable optical platform will ensure low latency and high resiliency, and allow WorldLink to cost-effectively increase network capacity as needed.”
WorldLink is the largest fixed broadband operator in Nepal, serving 120,000 residential subscribers and 5,000 enterprise customers. It says it’s expanding its network at a rate of 10,000 residential fiber-to-the-home service subscribers every month.