Govt seeks feedback on umbrella ICT policy

Kathmandu, August 6

The government has set a target to make internet service available to the entire population and broadband service to 90 per cent of the population by 2020. An umbrella policy on information and communication technology (ICT) is being devised by the government by including these targets.

At present, the internet penetration rate of the country is at 40 per cent and broadband service is believed to be used by 15 per cent of the total population. To come up with the policy, the Ministry of Information and Communications (MoIC) has prepared a draft and sought feedback from stakeholders, professionals and experts through Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA).

In the draft policy, the government has set a target of expanding broadband access to achieve a broadband penetration rate of 30 per cent at a minimum of 512kbps and making available at least 10 Mbps download speed on demand in urban areas by 2018.

Likewise, it also has an aim to increase digital literacy skills to 75 per cent of the population within 2020 and increase the contribution of the ICT sector to the GDP. There is no official data on the contribution of ICT in the GDP till date. However, it is expected to be below one per cent.

“The policy has set a target to achieve 7.5 per cent contribution of ICT to the GDP by 2020 by boosting development of the sector,” said Ananda Raj Khanal, director (technical) of NTA. He said that based on the estimation of International Telecommunication Union, the country could contribute 2.5 per cent from other areas of IT and five per cent from telecommunication to the GDP.

The policy has also talked of establishing a separate Ministry of Information and Communication Technology (MoICT) to end the existing row between MoIC and Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment (MoSTE) regarding the body responsible to drive ICT sector.

“The apex level institutional arrangement will be restructured to effectively drive ICT agenda in the country,” the draft policy states. A detailed organisation and management study has been planned within 2016 in this regard.

According to the draft, NTA will also be restructured and renamed ‘Nepal Communications Authority (NCA)’.

After the Cabinet endorses the policy, MoICT will be the focal ministry for all ICT-related matters. Currently, MoIC is responsible for information, communication and telecom, while information technology is under the jurisdiction of the MoSTE.

Khanal said that the whole thrust of the policy was on how to drive the sector through a single ministry.

Suggestions of the stakeholders and experts will be incorporated in the policy by NTA and sent to MoIC. NTA officials said they would take a maximum of two weeks for the task.

As it is an umbrella policy which will guide collaborative development in ICT, consultations at the ministry level with other ministries like Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Education and Ministry of Agricultural Development will also be held before it is sent to the Cabinet for approval.

The policy has envisaged of boosting deployment and exploitation of ICT in areas including education, health and tourism. Similarly, as per the policy, an ICT Enterprise Development Fund will be set up in collaboration with financial institutions and private sector to support start-ups and innovative Nepali ICT companies and entrepreneurs.

Source: THT