But the process came to a halt after a case was filed at the anti-graft body.Ī year later in October 2019, the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) directed the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology to go ahead with the plan. In October 2018, Nepal Telecom invited global bids to expand 4G service, and CCSI and ZTE were selected within two months of the bid submission. In February 2019, Nepal Telecom contracted the two Chinese companies-Hong Kong-based China Communication Service International (CCSI) and one of China’s leading telecom equipment manufacturers ZTE-to implement a Rs19 billion 4G LTE expansion project in the country.ĬCSI would work on the radio access network while ZTE would install the core network. Unnamed officials at the American and Indian embassies told the Post that they were concerned about the Nepal government allowing the Chinese companies to conduct the 5G tests without going through a competitive bidding process. For this reason, the US and India may have expressed concern over the 5G trials in Nepal,” said Karna, a former Nepali ambassador to Denmark. “Huawei's cyber security and data security systems have been questioned globally.

The big players-the United States, India and China-are engaged in a fierce competition which has deadlocked 5G trials in Nepal,” said foreign policy expert Vijay Kant Karna. “Globally, 5G has become a matter of geopolitics and competition in data systems and security.

But it deferred the plan.Īnalysts say the 5G trial is being pushed around like a piece on a geopolitical chessboard. The last time Nepal Telecom announced the start of 5G trials in public places was during the company’s anniversary on February 5. Since then, Nepal Telecom has announced several launch dates for 5G trials for the public, but they have always been postponed for no apparent reason. Subsequently, it formed a task force in mid-December. On November 22, 2021, Nepal Telecom received the spectrum allotment and trial permission from the regulator to conduct 5G trials. If we had received the approval, we would have already imported the equipment,” Adhikari said. “We cannot import the equipment until we get the licence,” Adhikari said.īut Achyuta Nand Mishra, deputy director of the Nepal Telecommunications Authority, says they have already sent an approval letter to Nepal Telecom allowing it to import the materials. There has been no response,” said Shobhan Adhikari, spokesperson for Nepal Telecom. “We had written to the Nepal Telecommunications Authority last November asking for a permit to import equipment for the 5G trials. Nepal Telecom plans to obtain the equipment from two Chinese companies, Huawei and ZTE, which apparently has raised concerns among other powers, analysts said. State-owned company Nepal Telecom has been conducting internal 5G trials in Babarmahal and Sundhara in Bagmati, Pokhara in Gandaki and Birgunj in Madhesh, and was planning to extend the tests to the other four provinces.īut officials say the tryout cannot be done because a licence to import equipment has been denied. Nepal’s 5G trials have been thrown into disarray as geopolitics causes planned tests in four provinces to be halted, while the progress report of ongoing tests in three provinces remains unknown.Īnalysts say the country's move to fifth generation mobile technology could be put back by years as a result.

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