A new license to be issued in Nepal; A novel justification for it


Posted on December 13, 2012  /  0 Comments

I am all for the issuance of new licenses in Nepal, a country with a population of 30 million and fewer mobile operators (officially) than its South Asian peers. But the justification is novel. Seems to solution the described problem afflicting Nepal Telecom is some kind of program to reform it, including, but not limited to, privatization. But anyway, good that something is being done. Of course, there is many a slip between cup and lip.

“Over the years, Nepal Telecom´s condition has deteriorated badly, while the other operator from the private sector (Ncell) is growing without due competition. This has created imbalance in the market, which can not be expected to bring benefits to consumers,” said Digambar Jha, the newly appointed chairman of the NTA, said.

Talking to Republica, Jha the introduction of another GSM operator from the private sector was critical, as it would help the country to do away with present imbalance and enhance competition in the market.

Jha said the authority was shortly awarding GSM license to one of the operators among the existing three rural telecom operators or limited mobility service (LMS) operator by issuing the Unified License to it.

“Instead of introducing a new player, we will award the license to one of the existing operators,” he said, hinting that Smart Telecom or UTL that have already applied for Unified License will get the authority´s approval soon.

Full report.

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