KATHMANDU, Feb 4: Nepal Telecom has signed agreement with Chinese vendor ZTE and CCSI of Hong Kong for expansion of 4G LTE service across the country.
Dilli Adhikari, managing director of NT, signed the agreement on Sunday with representatives of ZTE and CCSI Hong Kong, according to a statement issued by the state-owned telecom operator.
The agreement has been signed for the Core Network and Radio Access Network (RAN) that is required for expansion of 4G LTE service.
China: Vatican signs concord gaining right to appoint bishops
NT held discussion with the two companies for three days after getting go-ahead from parliamentary Finance Committee. According to Pratibha Baidhya, the spokesperson for the NT, the 4G network will have the capacity of serving 6.5 million users.
“The project will be completed within 12 months,” she said, adding, “After completion of the project, we will be able to provide 4G services in all seven provinces of the country.”
The 19-billion-rupees project will have one core network and two RAN networks. The service will be provided to users of all seven provinces while the core network will be installed in Kathmandu and Butwal, according to Baidhya.
NT is already providing 4G services in Kathmandu and Pokhara. It started the service as a pilot project two years ago.
Earlier lawmakers had questioned cost of the project, stating that a private operator was procuring the same service for Rs 3-4 billion. Finance Committee of parliament had held consultation with experts last Tuesday before taking final decision on the issue.
The experts, including former officials of NT, told the committee that the project should be implemented without any delay.
