Absence of full board throws NTA out of gear

KATHMANDU, Aug 25: Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA) - the telecom service regulator - has not been able to perform its responsibilities effectively in the absence of a full-fledged board.



NTA´s regular works like issuing new license, renewing the existing licenses, tariff approval, auctioning off of spectrum for new technology, and issuing WiMAX spectrum, among others have been hampered as only the full-fledged board is authorized to make major decisions.



NTA has been without a chairman after the Supreme Court stayed the appointment of Digambar Jha to the post in January. Ananda Raj Khanal, director of NTA who is currently working as the officiating chief of NTA, said that absence of full-fledged board has hindered daily works of NTA. “At present, we are doing only administrative works, monitoring the telcos and ISPs and addressing complaints filed by consumers,” said Khanal. [break]



NTA has also not been able to auction off spectrum for Long-term Evolution (LTE) - the fourth-generation wireless service - because of the absence of full-fledged board.



“We want to take the auction process forward as soon as possible. But we have not been able to allocate budget and finalize our annual programs,” Roja Kiran Basukala, assistant director at NTA, told Republica.



According to NTA officials, state-run Nepal Telecom (NT) has applied for LTE spectrum while private player Ncell has applied for both LTE and WiMAX spectrums.

“We had received application for LTE spectrum two years ago. Our internal preparations for the auction are almost over. But we have not been able to take the process forward,” Basukala added. “We have also not been able to respond to the applicants.”



NTA has also not been able to penalize the service providers that have not paid the fees in time or have not followed NTA´s rules and regulation.

Sunder Pyakurel, assistant director of NTA, said the process of issuing licenses to two network service providers (NSPs) and five Internet service providers (ISPs) has also been affected.



Similarly, around six companies are waiting to get their license renewed.

“We have neither been able to issue new licenses, nor renew or cancel the existing ones,” said Pyakurel.

Related story

RSP Chair Lamichhane’s campaign event barred in Nawalparasi Wes...