The Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA) and Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MoCIT) have approved a NPR1 billion (USD7.4 million) plan to extend mobile coverage across the country’s network of highways by April 2024, Nepalitelecom.com reports.
The project will prioritise stretches of the Prithvi, East-West, Araniko, Sagarmatha, BP, Karnali, Mid-Hill and Hulaki highways where services are currently unavailable, in line with the government’s Telecommunications Policy 2004 which seeks to expand connectivity to unserved areas. The regulator will ask the country’s mobile network operators – Nepal Telecom and Ncell – to submit their proposals by the end of the year.