Nepal Telecom, the incumbent telecommunications company, has been conducting trials of 5G services within the 2600MHz frequency band, utilizing a 60MHz bandwidth in the Kathmandu region. They are now going to extend their testing to include Pokhara and Birgunj.

Furthermore, Nepal Radio Frequency Policy Determination Committee has approved Radio frequency allocation and pricing policy 2080 in October. The policy would be released in November for general public to view.

Following are some applicable highlights from this policy:

a. Additional 26 GHz band (24.25 to 27.50 GHz) has been allocated for 5G services. The minimum allocation would be 400MHz band in a block.

b.       Unused frequency allocations granted to the telecommunications service provider may face withdrawal if they remain unused for a consecutive period of 6 months.

c.       Technology neutrality principle has been continued to be adopted allowing existing telcos offering cellular mobile communication to provide any technology (2G, 3G, 4G, 5G, etc.) to their customers if they fulfill prerequisite conditions.