Thamel soon to become Wi-Fi zone

Thamel, one of the main tourism hubs in Kathmandu, is soon going to boast itself as the first Wi-Fi internet zone in Nepal.

Thamel Tourism Development Council (TTDC) has tied up with Mercantile Communications Pvt. Ltd. to turn Thamel into a Wi-Fi internet zone with an aim to provide high-speed Wi-Fi internet service to tourists and entrepreneurs.

The memorandum of understanding (MoU) to this effect was signed by Mercantile CEO Sanjib Raj Bhandari and TTDC president Tejendra Nath Shrestha on Friday.

As per the agreement, Mercantile will make technical and financial investment for the development of Wi-Fi facility.

This agreement will help develop the famous tourism hub into Wi-Fi destination, providing easy and quality internet service to tourists and entrepreneurs, TTDC president Shrestha told Nepalnews. He described the agreement as a timely move which comes at a time when the country is marking an ambitious tourism year.

Though many hotels and restaurants in Thamel are providing free Wi-Fi internet to their customers, quality is lacking as compared to the upcoming Wi-Fi system powered by Mercantile, he added.

"TTDC has tied up with Mercantile as it is a well-equipped and reliable ISP that provides quality service," Shrestha added.

Prachanda Man Shakya, corporate executive of Mercantile Communications, said this project is not fully on commercial model and that it is more of a branding process of publicising Mercantile as one of the best quality service provider among the visitors during Nepal Tourism Year 2011.

He also said that this would also be a contribution to NTY-2011 from the private sector for the development of tourism through quality service.

According to Shakya, the project will be in operation within a couple of months, offering high quality internet service at favourable price of around $1 per hour. nepalnews.com