A meeting of Radio Frequency Policy Determination Committee chaired by Minister for Information and Communcations Raj Kishor Yadav on Friday decided to seek opinion of the finance ministry and the telecom sector regulator before deciding anything.[break]
In compliance with the policy drafted by the committee, private operator Ncell has already cleared its outstanding 3G frequency fee to the government. The operator this week paid Rs 1.20 billion as 3G frequency fee.
Likewise, state-owned Nepal Telecom (NT) has made partial payment of 3G frequency fee. NT has paid Rs 480 million.
Officials at MoIC said NT and rural telecom operator, Nepal Satellite Telecom (NST), have asked the government to review the policy, stating that the price fixed for frequency was too high for the local market. They have asked the ministry to review provision related to allocation of minimum frequency and additional cost for hoarding frequency.
About a month ago, the operators had requested NTA to extend frequency fee payment deadline and lower the spectrum fee.
Meanwhile, another operator, Smart Telecom, has welcomed the policy. In a letter to the ministry, it said that the decision on frequency distribution and pricing was an important step to take the telecom industry in the positive direction.
“As the operators are divided on the issue, we have decided to seek opinions of the regulator and finance ministry before reviewing the policy,” one of the participants of the meeting told Republica.
In less than three months of the enactment of the policy, the government has managed to mobilize more than Rs 2 billion in revenue.
After the implementation of the new policy, prices of radio frequency have gone up by up to 100 percent. Previously, frequency prices were fixed on the basis of Telecommunications Act 1997, which was charging a nominal fee.
According to the policy, if service providers fail to pay the fee within the given time, they will be charged additional 2 percent on the outstanding amount on monthly basis for six months. The authority also has the right to revoke the permission and withdraw the assigned frequency if the operator continued to default the payment.
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