GSM mobile lines project: NT looking to close deals with Chinese companies
KATHMANDU, MAY 23 -
The Nepal Telecom (NT) has said that it would seal deals for its 10 million GSM mobile lines project soon with two Chinese vendors—Huawei Technologies and ZTE Corporation. Despite issuing letter of intent (LoI) for the project in two separate packages, the state-owned telecom operator has not been able sign an agreement, causing a delay to the project.
The NT had issued LoI for 5.2 million lines to ZTE and for 4.8 million lines to Huawei about two months ago. But it is yet to reach agreements with the Chinese companies, with ZTE showing dissatisfaction regarding the project cost and confusion over the terms and condition for the supply, delivery and installation of equipment to be supplied.
“We will sign agreements with the vendors within two weeks once we complete the negotiation,” said Bishu Kasaju, director at the NT’s Mobile Service Directorate. He said that the negotiation was taking some time as they need to make clarification to the vendors regarding some clauses of the project.
The NT expects to address demand for 2G, 3G and 4G mobile services for the next three years with this project that is estimated to cost Rs 15 billion. The project implementation has been planned in two packages covering all five regions of the country. “We will be able to start distribution of new mobile lines within six months,” said Kasaju.
Upon the completion of this project, the NT will be in a position to distribute SIM cards instantly on customer demand.
The Central, Eastern, Far-Western and Mid-Western development regions will be covered under the package ‘A’ that boasts 5.2 million mobile lines, while 4.2 million lines would be allocated for the Kathmandu Valley and the Western development region.
A senior NT official said that ZTE had sought some consideration in project cost as it was supposed to work in difficult and wider areas compared to the project areas being covered by Huawei. “Huawei is likely to sign an agreement this week but ZTE might take a little longer,” the official said.
The NT is also planning to redesign the network of the Kathmandu Valley to address problems of poor service. Under the project, it will build networks in major cities like Biratnagar, Birgunj, Pokhara and Nepalgunj for 4G services with a priority on data and voice services.
The official said that the 10 million lines project had been delayed for three months due to a probe into a lengthy evaluation work and negotiation by the Commission for Investigation for Abuse of Authority. “There is no other option than speeding up this project work as we will run out of SIM cards after couple of months,” the official added.
Source: The Kathmandu Post
