The ministry had stopped issuing license stating that it needs to regularize the licensing procedure as it was getting a huge number of applications for terrestrial license.[break]
Mahendra Prasad Guragai, joint secretary at the MoIC, said the government had resumed licensing process with some preconditions. He added that the ministry will issue license only to terrestrial television station with a minimum capacity of 3 KW in Kathmandu Valley and surrounding areas and 1 KW in other parts of the country except in mountainous and hilly regions.
MoIC officials are hopeful that the new provision would discourage companies seeking license to operate terrestrial television station with low capacity. The ministry had stopped awarding license to operate terrestrial television stations after it started receiving applications for television stations with capacity lower than 100W.
Officials said the new decision will not affect the process of licensing television stations based in rural and mountainous areas. Television stations in these areas can operate with lower capacity as well.
Ten out of 28 licensed television stations hold license for terrestrial transmission. Nepal Television (NTV), NTV2, Kantipur Television (KTV) and Image Channel hold license for both satellite and terrestrial transmission. Voice of Youth Television is the youngest company with license for terrestrial transmission.
The government issues license for transmission through satellite and terrestrial medium only. Although cable operators have been demanding that the government license them to transmit through cable system, no decision has been taken so far.
B P Gautam, a cable operator, told Republica that the government has not been able to decide on the issue because of the delay in amending the existing broadcasting regulations
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