Communication Minister Timilsina Instructs to Improve the Quality of Telecommunication Services

Minister for Information and Communications Dr Bikram Timilsina has instructed the agencies concerned to perform keeping expansion of access to telecommunication service with quality improvement on top priority.

During a discussion today at the Ministry of Communications with the Nepal Telecommunications Authority and Nepal Telecom, he said complaints from citizens about weak telephone and internet services have been reported consistently, emphasizing that both the regulator and the service provider need to work seriously and effectively to expand services and improve quality.

He instructed the authorities to improve services accordingly to meet the aspirations of the people at large. Highlighting that the government has designated the current fiscal year as a ‘year of transformation’ for the telecommunications sector, he said now the results of the work need to be tangible.

Dr. Timilsina also pointed out that, on one hand, citizens in remote and even some urban areas are unable to get effective telephone and internet services, while on the other hand, the Rural Telecommunications Development Fund (RTDF) being collected for rural telecom development has not been spent effectively. The money collected from citizens should go towards serving the citizens, he asserted, calling for effective operation of RTDF for expanding telecommunication infrastructure in remote and underserved areas.

‘The RTDF is made up of public money. Citizens should benefit from it. The regulator should oversee whether it is being implemented effectively, and service providers should deliver good service,’ he said. Even though service providers can expand infrastructure in urban and commercially profitable areas with their own investment, the role of the State is necessary in remote areas where financial returns are low, said Communications Minister Dr. Timilsina.

In particular, when expanding services in remote areas, the focus should be on providing citizens access to basic telecommunication services rather than just on profit and returns, he said. Similarly, Communications Minister Dr. Timilsina said that Nepal Telecom should clearly expand services and improve quality. He has also directed to speed up the work of expanding optical fiber.

He instructed the concerned agencies to immediately finalize the long-stalled projects related to tower construction and optical fiber expansion, and within a week, to make decisions with a detailed action plan on how to move these projects forward.

While expanding telecommunication infrastructure, he emphasized that delays should not occur due to lack of coordination between various government agencies and directed them to coordinate with the required agencies like the Department of Roads and Nepal Electricity Authority and work in a way that shows immediate results.

On the occasion, Chairperson of Nepal Telecommunications Authority, Arjun Ghimire, informed that the Authority has been working for a long time on service expansion using RTDF funds, but some projects are still not gaining progress.

According to him, projects initiated for optical fiber expansion in Koshi, Bagmati, and Madhes provinces using RTDF have yet to be completed. (RSS)