Nepal Wireless

Technically, we were running the network illegally because we had not gotten license that the government of Nepal then required.  Also it was almost impossible to import Wi-fi equipment from abroad. We had smuggled all the wireless equipment from Singapore and the US. Therefore the biggest challenges until September 2006 for this project was to find ways to work in the absence of flexible government law.

Moreover it was very risky to our lives to bring the equipment and build the network during the time of peak political conflict in Nepal. We might have been killed or tortured either by the government or by the Maoist armies if there had gone something wrong. Luckily, we survived.

There were obviously some technical problems also that incurred. However, we became able to solve the technical problems.

After the restoration of democracy in Nepal in April 2006, the political situation is getting better in Nepal. Therefore we don't have as much risk now as it was before to set up Wi-fi network. Wi-fi technology (2.4 GHz and 5.8 GHz) has been de-licensed since Setpember 2006, and it has been easier to import and set up wireless network. Our team members along with the people working in the wireless networking field had to lobby hard to de-license the Wi-fi bands.