CIAA, Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority, a.k.a. Akhtiyar has made a decision on the NTC (Nepal Telecom) 4G expansion project case. With the decision of the NTC 4G project, Ministry of Communication and Information technology (MOCIT) is likely to take the initiative to resume the halted works of Ntc 4G expansion.
After being the first operator to launch 4G in Kathmandu and Pokhara, Ntc called out a mega tender to expand 4G in all parts of the country. While the evaluation process was ongoing, there was an allegation for the irregularities in the process of Ntc 4G project. So CIAA started the probe on NTC 4G expansion project from February 2018.
CIAA probe halting NTC 4G expansion works has put Ntc far behind the private telecom operator Ncell. While the coverage of Ntc 4G remains in 2 cities, Ncell has succeeded to cover 21 cities with 4G service.
Minister (MoCIT) had also blamed the CIAA probe to delay the 4G expansion works in Ntc. According to Onlinekhabar news, the new decision has now put the ball in MoCIT’s court for how to go ahead. In a letter to Ministry, CIAA directs to take any works to make the 4G service durable, good quality, cost-effective and efficient. Here is a copy of the letter from CIAA.
THT posted a news regarding the CIAA decision enabling Ministry to decide whether to go on with the old tender or start a fresh one.
Regarding the vacant top management position at NTC, THT further writes quoting Spokesperson of MoCIT. “As the 4G expansion project requires to fill the vacant MD post, we will soon do it through open competition”. The Government had sacked Mrs. Kamini Rajbhandari citing her poor performance on August 14, 2018. Since then, the MD post is vacant for more than 2 and half months already.
Nine months for probe of NTC 4G project
CIAA started the probe for NTC 4G project from February 2018 and made the decision in October 2018. This shows they took 9 months to decide on the matter. According to an employee in Ntc, “If an investigation takes 9 months to give a decision, how can they blame the employees and the whole company for the delay in the expansion of services!!”
