February 23, Kathmandu

Nepal Telecom is going to test high speed mobile internet service 5G from 4 big cities of the country. For that, Nepal Telecom has started internal preparations for the study of business feasibility required for the operation of FiveG.

According to Ranjit Lohia, co-spokesperson of Nepal Telecom, the telecom is waiting to determine the FVG frequency. He said that the telecom is ready to test the FiveG service if the instruction comes as soon as the work of determining the frequency is completed.

Earlier, the Telecommunication Authority of Nepal has identified the frequency for FiveG and recommended it to the Radio Frequency Policy Determination Committee. NEA had formed the National Frequency Management Forum for the identification of fiveG frequencies. The forum had recommended the authority of frequency for FiveG.

Based on the recommendations made by the forum, the NEA Board has made a decision and recommended it to the Radio Frequency Policy Determination Committee. NEA has recommended to the committee to provide fiveG frequencies in 700, 900, 2600, 3300, 3600, 4300 and 26 GHz bands.

The committee, which will now be chaired by the Minister of Communications and Information Technology, will make a necessary decision based on the recommendations made by NEA. Spokesperson Lohiya said that the telco is ready for the 5G test if the committee determines the 5G frequency and gives instructions from the Telecommunications Authority. He also said that an internal study is underway on this issue.

Anil Kumar Dutt, joint secretary at the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, also said that a study would be carried out to include the possibility of practical use of FiveG. He informed that Nepal Telecom is currently doing homework for FiveG test in Kathmandu, Pokhara, Biratnagar, and Birgunj.

Earlier, Nepal Telecom had signed agreements with China Telecommunication Services International (CCSI) and ZTE for core network expansion. According to the agreement, the two Chinese companies will have to test FiveG services in five cities in a row.

On the basis of the same condition, preparations for the FiveG test are now underway in those districts. He said that the regulatory Nepal Telecommunication Authority has also taken forward the necessary process to give frequencies to Nepal Telecom and Ncell for the FiveG test.

Earlier, the NEA had also proposed that the service providers should provide the opportunity to the customer to experience the FiveG for free while testing the FiveG. NEA has already sent a proposal to the Frequency Policy Determination Committee to provide frequencies to the service providers free of cost for the FiveG test in the Radio Frequency Policy Determination Committee. The NEA has stated that the service provider will not be allowed to charge from the customer while testing the FVG service on the frequency received in this way.