The taskforce, formed five months ago, was entrusted with the responsibility of suggesting measures to make NT competitive and raise its service quality. The taskforce led by Narayan Prasad Regmi, joint secretary at the Ministry of Information and Communications, has suggested the government to welcome a capable strategic partner allowing 26-30 percent equity shares. [break]
“Many successful telecommunication operators in the South Asian region have foreign operator as their strategic partner," Regmi said.
The state-owned telecom operators in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Pakistan have already welcomed strategic partners to enhance their competitiveness amid stiff competition.
The Indian-government owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has also started groundwork to include a strong strategic partner after it started losing grounds to other players. BSNL, once the number one operator in the southern neighbor, is currently at the fifth spot. Sri Lanka was the first country in the region to invite foreign party as strategic partner.
“NT no longer holds monopoly in Nepal´s telecom market. But its working style has remained all the same despite growing competition in the market. Therefore, it has become a necessity for NT to invite strategic foreign partner to bring about improvements in its services,” Regmi added.
NT is the only company that provides all telecom services -- GSM, CDMA, PSTN and Internet. It is the largest telecom operator in the country in terms of subscribers´ base.
“NT´s service delivery has been weakening rapidly in recent years. It might lose its hold in this competitive market if its services are not improved,” a senior NT official told myrepublica.com.
The taskforce has recommended that the foreign partner cannot sell the equity shares at least for three years.
The taskforce has suggested selecting international telecom operators with 15 years of experience through a global tender. The company should have at least 20 million subscribers on both landlines and GSM and an annual turnover of at least $1 billion.
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