 |
Kathmandu Wednesday October 04, 2000 Aswin 18, 2057.
|
Basic telephone service
opened to private sector
Post Report
KATHMANDU, Oct 3 - Nepal Telecommunications
Authority (NTA) invited the private sector for providing rural telocom services (RTS) in
the Eastern Development Region.
NTA has opened the basic telephone service
to the private operator in pursuant with the government's policy of involving the private
sector in telecommunications in rural areas. The government provides one-time subsidy to
the operator, but the one quoting for least subsidy would be preferred while awarding the
licence.
According to Bhoop Raj Pandey, Chairman of
NTA, the would-be operator has to use field-proven latest technology but they can operate
the services either through radio or satellite communication.
The Authority has opened the service to
private party to operate RTS in 538 VDCs of the Eastern Development Region.
Licence to operate the service is given to
those areas only where Nepal Telecommunications Corporation (NTC) has not reached. But NTC
also is not allowed to tresspass upon the VDCs private to the private sector for five
years. However, other private operators can run similar services in those areas.
A licence fee of Rs 100 thousand has been
fixed for a period of 10 years subjected to be renewed every five years paying a renewal
fee not exceeding four percent of the operator's income. The licence is valid for 25 years
altogether.
"Compared to the licence fees of other
telecom service operators, the fee asked for RTS is very nominal as we are charging only
Rs 100 thousand for a period of ten years. They do not have to pay Rural Telecom
Development Fund tax either," says Pandey.
The fee is nominal. Fine. But the
government should provide more incentives in order to lure more operators to the far-flung
areas of the country where almost all populace is deprived of basic telephone service
while the world has moved far ahead in information technology (IT). For this government
should waive royalty and give them other facilities, Pandey stressed.
This apart, the operator has to pay a
royalty four percent of its total annual income to the government. It is also mandatory
for the operators to provide at least two telephone lines to a village development
committee (VDC) for public call office (PCO). The qualified bidder has to operate their
service within two years of acquiring licence for the same.
NTA has a policy of gradually opening up
RTS to other developmental regions as well. "Following the completion of the first
project, we will give licence to private operators to provide RTS in basic
telephone," says Chairman Pandey.
The government has invited private sector
to invest in the fast growing technology at a time when the law and order situation in the
country is worsening. Investors want political stability and conducive environment to
their investments so that they could get the return at the estimated time.
Other Stories
|
