NEPAL International Telecommunication Union Telecommunication Development Bureau Roadmap for the Transition from Place des Nations CH-1211 Geneva 20 ANALOGUE TO DIGITAL Switzerland www.itu.int TERRESTRIAL TELEVISION BROADCASTING IN NEPAL Report FEBRUARY 2012 Printed in Switzerland Telecommunication Development Sector Geneva, 2012 02/2012 Roadmap for the Transition from Analogue to Digital Terrestrial Television Broadcasting in Nepal Report February 2012 The roadmap for the transition from analogue to digital terrestrial television broadcasting in Nepal has been prepared in the framework of the ITU digital broadcasting project in collaboration with the Korea Communications Commission (KCC), Republic of Korea. The project’s objective is to assist countries in setting out a roadmap and to shift smoothly from analogue to digital terrestrial television broadcasting, and to introduce mobile television (MTV). This report was prepared by ITU expert Mr C D Banerji with the support from the National Roadmap Team (NRT) of Nepal and the ITU Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific. ITU 2012 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, by any means whatsoever, without the prior written permission of ITU. Roadmap for the transition from analogue to digital terrestrial television broadcasting in Nepal Table of Contents Page Foreword ......................................................................................................................................... iv Executive Summary .......................................................................................................................... iv Recommendations ........................................................................................................................... v Suggestions ...................................................................................................................................... v 1 Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 1 2 Current broadcasting situation in Nepal ......................................................................................... 2 2.1 Market structure ................................................................................................................................. 2 2.1.1 TV ........................................................................................................................................... 2 2.1.2 Radio ...................................................................................................................................... 4 2.1.3 Cable ...................................................................................................................................... 4 2.1.4 Satellite .................................................................................................................................. 4 2.2 Regulatory framework ........................................................................................................................ 5 2.3 Digital switch-over objective ............................................................................................................... 5 3 National roadmap.......................................................................................................................... 8 3.1 Roadmap concept ............................................................................................................................... 8 3.2 Description of the construction of the roadmap ................................................................................ 11 3.3 Selected functional building blocks for the roadmap for the regulator .............................................. 15 3.4 Roadmap for the operator .................................................................................................................. 22 4 Consideration on the ten most critical topics ................................................................................. 29 4.1 Financial resources .............................................................................................................................. 29 4.2 Strong leadership ................................................................................................................................ 30 4.3 Regulatory changes ............................................................................................................................. 31 4.4 National frequency plan ...................................................................................................................... 31 4.5 Best content ........................................................................................................................................ 31 4.6 Technical standards based on coverage and reception quality to suit public requirements ............. 31 4.7 Digital dividend .................................................................................................................................... 31 4.8 Revision of National Broadcasting Act, 1993 ...................................................................................... 32 4.9 Develop suitable business plan ........................................................................................................... 32 4.10 Staff training ...................................................................................................................................... 32 5 Recommendations ......................................................................................................................... 32 Table of Acronyms and Abbreviations .............................................................................................. 32 Annex I The National Broadcasting Act, 1993‎ .................................................................................... 35 Annex II TELECOMMUNICATIONS ACT.2053 (1997) ........................................................................... 45 Annex III Report of the Frequency Recommendation Working ‎Group ............................................... 65 Annex IV Details of channels: power of operation of TV channels in Nepal ....................................... 79 i Roadmap for the transition from analogue to digital terrestrial television broadcasting in Nepal Table of Figures Page Figure 1: TV market structure in Nepal ..................................................................................................... 2 Figure 2: Coverage map of Nepal TV and Nepal TV+ ................................................................................ 3 Figure 3: Proposed transmitter stations where the first DTTB transmitter is to be installed ................... 6 Figure 4: The 70m tower at Singh Durbar, Kathmandu proposed for DTTB ............................................. 7 Figure 5: Phases of the roadmap for transition to digital broadcasting ................................................... 8 Figure 6: Functional layers and building blocks ........................................................................................ 9 Figure 7: Roadmap construction ............................................................................................................... 10 Figure 8: Overview of the ITU Guidelines functional framework .............................................................. 11 Figure 9: Functional blocks for the regulator’s roadmap relevant for Nepal ............................................ 15 Figure 10: Interrelation between the four phases of the roadmap for the regulator .............................. 16 Figure 11: Phase I of the regulator roadmap: DTTB/MTV policy development process ........................... 17 Figure 12: Phase II of the roadmap for the regulator: analogue switch-off planning process ................. 18 Figure 13: Phase III: licensing policy and regulation process .................................................................... 19 Figure 14: Phase IV of the roadmap for the regulator: licence administration process ........................... 20 Figure 15: Overall roadmap for the regulator ........................................................................................... 21 Figure 16: Functional block connected to each of the four phases of network operator‘s roadmap ...... 22 Figure 17: Interrelation between the four phases of roadmap for network operators in Nepal ............. 23 Figure 18: Phase I of roadmap for the operator: Preparations ................................................................. 24 Figure 19: Phase II of the roadmap for the operator: Planning ................................................................ 25 Figure 20: Phase III of the roadmap for the operator: Implementation ................................................... 26 Figure 21: Phase IV of roadmap for the operator: Analogue switch-off ................................................... 27 Figure 22: Overall roadmap for the operator ............................................................................................ 28 Figure 23: Overall roadmap for transition from analogue to digital TV transmission in Nepal ................ 29 ii Roadmap for the transition from analogue to digital terrestrial television broadcasting in Nepal Foreword The process of transition from analogue to digital terrestrial television broadcasting offers advantages in terms of spectrum efficiency, higher video and audio