Kathmandu, March 3

Minister of Finance and Communications and Information Technology, Yubaraj Khatiwada, has said that the tendency of holding on to the licence of telecommunication service without commencing any service must come to an end.

Addressing the 22nd anniversary programme of Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA) today, Khatiwada directed telecom regulator to take action against such people or firms by invoking the necessary laws.

Meanwhile, Khatiwada has resigned from his ministerial posts today.

He said that the trend of going to court to obtain a licence and then doing nothing substantial to start services must come to an end.

“Getting a licence through a court order but not following the provisions in the licence has become rampant which must be halted,” Khatiwada reiterated.

“I had previously heard about some business firms holding on to licences but not doing anything in other sectors but since I have taken charge as the communication minister I have noticed that this trend is prevalent in the telecom sector too,” Khatiwada said, adding that it had sort of become a national disease which needs to be eliminated soon.

Khatiwada further recalled the time when one had to have someone in an influential position to get a telephone connection.

“Such practices must come to an end and the telecom regulator must provide licence to those who can provide tangible benefits to the nation,” he stated.

He said telecom firms need to focus more on data rather than voice service now. He emphasised that data is important in the field of cryptocurrency, crowd sourcing and e-commerce, among others and the quality of data services needs to be improved further.

Speaking at the programme, Purushottam Khanal, chairman of NTA, said the authority is committed to delivering quality telecommunication services in the country in terms of policy facilitation to the operators.

“As a regulatory authority we will act as per the law to ensure customers receive quality telecom services.”

Khanal further informed about the government’s national campaign called Digital Nepal to digitalise the country. “We have plans to enhance the financial, social, education and some other sectors through the use of modern technology,” he stated. Khanal also mentioned that the modernisation and transformation of the agriculture and education sectors through the use of modern technology had been incorporated in the Digital Nepal framework.

On the occasion, Khanal also informed that the government had started providing broadband internet service at 9,300 locations across the country. NTA has accelerated the process to provide such internet service with an aim to facilitate citizens at the local bodies, community health centres and community schools.

The project was started two years ago by mobilising the budget of the Rural Telecommunication Development Fund. NTA has said it has plans to complete 85 per cent of work by the end of the ongoing fiscal year.