In order to determine and distribute the radio frequency policy, there is a legal provision to pass it through the Radio Frequency Policy Determination Committee chaired by the Minister of Communications and Information Technology. Among them, the Secretary of the Ministry of Home Affairs, Defense, Tourism and Civil Aviation, Communications and Information Technology, and the Chairman of the Telecommunication Authority of Nepal remain members.
In accordance with the legal provisions, NEA had taken the proposal related to the 5G test to the committee. However, a source in the ministry said that Minister Gurung had made a single decision rejecting the opinion of the secretary of the ministry and the NEA chairperson.
"Even in the minutes, he is the only one who has signed the minutes," a ministry source told Tekpana. But the then secretary of the ministry argues that it is not a matter of who signed the agreement as it is a matter to be decided by the ministerial level.
It is the government's job to test. ' In the proposal prepared by the ministry itself, it was argued that only Nepal Telecom should be allowed to test 5G as it is a government-owned company.
A ministry source said that private service providers have been deprived of testing as the frequency of 5G has not been decided and its price is yet to be determined. An expert in the secretariat of the then minister Gurung said that it was the responsibility of NEA to test the FiveG and that the NEA did not have the necessary infrastructure to do so.
But telecom expert Anandaraj Khanal comments that it is not a decision made by a person in the office. The minister cannot impose his decision against the basic principle of an independent regulatory body, 'he says.' Such a decision cannot be signed by the regulator. '
Khanal argues that the decision of the committee can be considered official only after verification by the member and member secretary along with the minister. "If there was no consensus, then its legitimacy is in question," he said.
The Telecommunications Act does not envisage that the ministry can move the proposal forward in the committee. There is also a separate technical committee under the committee to evaluate the proposal from NEA. It is said that even the committee did not submit such a proposal to the committee.
The policy on radio frequency allocation and pricing of telecommunication services stipulates that the same criteria should be followed for all the service providers who obtain the license for basic telephone service.
Similarly, the Telecommunications Act also states that in order to make telecommunication services and facilities available to the public, there should be coordination and healthy competition among the people providing such services and facilities. However, the committee took the decision on the sole decision of Communications Minister Parbat Gurung, ignoring the policy and legal provisions.
Although the then secretary of the ministry said that Ncell had not demanded for the test, the company had said that it was ready for the 5G test if it got permission from the government. NEA chairperson Purushottam Khanal said that preparations are being made to take the previous decision to the committee for review.
Under the current arrangement, the telco will get free frequencies for the 5G test and the company's users will also get to experience the free FiveG service for one year. But if the government's decision is not reconsidered, the customers of Smart cell and Ncell will be deprived of this opportunity.
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