Minister Gurung presses need for reforms in telecommunication industry

Kathmandu: Minister for Communications and Information Technology, Prithvi Subba Gurung, has emphasized the need for legal reforms in the telecommunications sector and the intensification of regulations to strengthen it further.

Addressing an event titled “Revitalizing the Telecom Industry” organized by the Society of Economic Journalists-Nepal (Sejon) here today, the Minister stated that leading the entire communications industry towards sustainability, along with better management, remains a major challenge.

He called for a new act to address the sector’s issues, highlighting that the formulation of the new Telecommunications Act is in progress. As he said, the provision requiring telecom providers to pay Rs 20 billion as renewal fees would be revised.

The Minister presented data indicating a weakening of economic indicators in the telecom sector, which has contributed to a decline in the State’s revenue collections.

Stating that telecom companies are affected by the compulsion to compete with Internet Service Providers, he highlighted the need to implement a new corporate strategy in this sector to address the existing challenges, including strengthening policies and legal structures, and improving governance efficiency.

Substantive measures with a farsighted approach are awaited for the sustainability of this sector, he stressed. The Minister, who also serves as the government Spokesperson, expressed his concern over the deliveries of the Ministry, relevant departments and the regulating bodies, calling for improvements.

Also speaking on the occasion, Radhika Aryal, the Secretary at the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, called for implementing the existing rules, regulations, and laws in the telecom sector. She proposed a collective dialogue among all the stakeholders concerned to assess challenges and explore ways to address them.

As she said, a significant debt that internet service providers owe to the government has discouraged the government from adopting a policy of subsidies for the industry. Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA) Chair Bhupendra Bhandari said the citizens’ 100 per cent internet access to 4G services is still awaited, promising that the target will be met within a year.

Acknowledging quality issues in telecommunications services, he stressed the need to address them. Bhandari shared the possibility of launching 5G services in the major eight cities, refuting the argument that 5G technology is highly expensive. He said the NTA is ready to approve the operation of 5G services within a week if service providers apply for the same.

The NTA Chair said grievances that Wi-Fi’s growing reach has affected the income of telecom service providers are under discussions. Giving his presentation, IT expert Manohar Kumar Bhattarai described the mobile industry as a foundation for the promotion of the digital economy.

Of late, the contribution of the telecom sector to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has dropped from 3.6 per cent to 1.8 per cent. Despite the expansion of 4G internet services across the country, only two out of ten internet users use mobile data regularly, he said.

Telecom Company Ncell Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director Jabbor Kayumov said Nepal’s telecommunications sector is near a grave crisis. He cited that Nepal’s position on the GSM ranking had dropped from 117th to 119th recently, attributing this decline to a lack of an encouraging business environment, which has deterred foreign investment.

The downturn in the business of telecom companies has resulted in the loss of the State’s revenue collection. As he said, Ncell is preparing to withdraw 3G services by 2025. He advised the government to put restrictions on the imports of mobile phones sans VoLTE (Voice over Long-Term Evolution) technology.

He was of the view that no further delays be made in taking the telecom business into a ‘subscription model’.

RSS