The Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA) has invited expressions of interest (EoI) for a consultant to help formulate a regulatory framework for the implementation of mobile number portability (MNP) in the country.
The deadline for applications is 20 January 2017. The regulator originally planned to have MNP in place in 2010, but faltering take-up led to a postponement. There were further moves towards a launch of number portability in 2013/14, but once again the idea was shelved.
Nepal was home to around 29.2 million mobile subscribers at the end of September 2016, split between Nepal Telecom (NT) and Ncell, while rival operator Smart Telecom serves a further 1.4 million users with its limited mobility GSM system.