KATHMANDU: It has been revealed that Smart Telecom is yet to fulfil the conditions set in its old licence regarding service expansion. Hence, the company has sought an additional 18 months to accomplish the assigned tasks. Even though the company obtained the unified licence two years ago, which allowed it to expand services including GSM mobile nationwide, its service network is yet to reach 15 districts and 68 village development committees (VDCs) as per the conditions of the old licence. Before acquiring the unified licence, the company was issued a permit of rural telecommunication service provider in 2008. As per old obligations, Smart Telecom was supposed to take at least two lines of phone services each in the government designated 398 VDCs of 40 districts under the central, western, mid-western and far-western regions. “The request of Smart Telecom is under consideration,” said Achyuta Nanda Mishra, spokesperson for NTA. Earlier, as the company had failed to roll out services as per the new unified licence, the authority had sought a new roll-out plan. Mishra said that the plan submitted by the company was also being perused by NTA. As of now, 400-plus mobile towers have been installed by the company for network expansion. However, there has been no progress in making services available in newer areas, like Kathmandu Valley. “We will be able to complete our obligation for service expansion in areas designated in the old licence within 18 months,” said Pawan Shakya, corporate communication head of Smart Telecom. He said that they were also working out on expanding services in new areas, including Kathmandu as per the service roll-out plan submitted to NTA. As nationwide service expansion requires huge investment, the company for long has also been planning to rope in a strategic partner. A case filed against unified licence provision at the Supreme Court (which was later scrapped) and internal share ownership dispute, among others are attributed as some of the reasons for slow performance of the firm. In Smart Telecom, Lal Sahu Distribution of Singapore has a 70 per cent stake, Nepali company Square Network owns 20 per cent and Israeli-based Gilat Network owns the rest, as per the NTA record. Last month, United Telecom Ltd (UTL), which has majority investment from Indian firms, also paid required fee to take the unified licence. NTA officials said that UTL will be granted the permit after completing regulatory processes.