Kathmandu: The Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA) and the Nepal Telecommunications Company Ltd (NTC) have entered into an agreement to implement a project focused on extending the installation of optical fibers across the Gandaki and Lumbini provinces. This initiative falls under the Rural Telecommunications Development Fund (RTDF).
According to National News Agency Nepal, the agreement was finalized during a program attended by Minister for Communications and Information Technology (CIT) Prithvi Subba Gurung and Radhika Aryal, Secretary at the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology. NTA Chair Bhupendra Bhandari and NTC Acting Managing Director Sabina Maskey signed the necessary documents on behalf of their respective organizations.
Secretary Aryal emphasized the importance of completing the project on time, highlighting its potential to serve as an exemplary model if successful. NTA Chair Bhandari noted that previous attempts by UTL and Smart Telecom Company to install optical fibers under the RTDF were unsuccessful. However, he assured that this project, estimated to cost around Rs two billion and spanning a three-year period, would be executed promptly. He stated that the project is crucial for achieving the government’s ‘Digital Nepal Framework’ initiative.
NTC’s Acting Managing Director Maskey mentioned that the company has been actively working on expanding broadband optical fiber over the past nine years. She elaborated that the current project aims to extend optical fiber to 23 districts within the Gandaki and Lumbini provinces, covering a total of 194 local levels with about 1,900 kilometers of optical fiber installation.