Last Updated on August 25, 2026
Nepal Telecommunication Authority, NTA (the sole regulator for telecom market) has called for an auction to award the residual spectrum in 800 MHz band. It is a significant step in managing Nepal’s cellular spectrum and awarding the valuable spectrum to telcos. The first spectrum auction was held in 2019, awarding the residual bandwidth in 900 MHz, 1800 MHz and 2100 MHz spectrum.
On Tuesday (August 25, 2026), NTA published a notice “Invitation for Application for Auction of Residual Spectrum in 800 MHz Band” calling all eligible telecom service providers to participate in the bidding process. NTA will follow the Telecommunications Regulations, 2054 and the Radio Frequency (Allocation and Pricing) Policy for Telecommunication Services, 2080 to conduct the auction process.
As per the notice, there are two stages involved in the bidding.
- Pre-qualification of bidders
- Multi step Sealed Auction
✅Frequency bands in Nepal for 2G, 3G, 4G
Conditions to participate in the bidding
The conditions for the telcos to participate in the bidding are:
- Holding either a Basic Telephone Service License or Mobile Service License issued by NTA.
- Must have cleared all outstanding government and regulatory dues, including royalty, RTDF and spectrum fees
- Should not be a defaulter to the Authority
Further, the telco shall not have reached the maximum spectrum ceiling in the 800 MHz band to allow its partcipation.
To participate in the bidding, the telco needs to purchase the bid document from the authority and submit the application in accordance with the requirements specified in the Bid Document. The cost of the bid document is NPR 10,000.
The deadline for the submission of the first stage of the bidding is on October 8, 2026.
800 MHz spectrum usage
Currently, Nepal Telecom (Ntc) holds 10 MHz of spectrum in 800 MHz, which is being used for 4G. The regulator has also awarded 5 MHz in 800 MHz band to Nepal Telecom on a temporary basis. Which was one of the reasons for Ntc 4G speed increment by ~60% in FY 2082/83. Further, the maximum ceiling spectrum in 800 MHz is 15 MHz. While there are rumors to increase the maximum bandwidth allowed in 800 MHz to 20 MHz, which requires more work in refarming. So, the current spectrum auction shall be the residual 2X 5 MHz spectrum.
Low band (Sub 1 GHz) spectrum is very important for telcos to provide wider 4G coverage due to better propagation characteristics over high frequency bands. Increasing the bandwidth will have an impact on improving 4G speed in the rural and indoor areas. As NTA in its latest “Nepal’s Road to 5G” report stated 35% LTE cells are running with maximum PRB utilization, which requires capacity upgrade using additional spectrum to meet the increasing demand.
While the current cap of the spectrum in low bands (800+900) goes beyond the frequency policy, NTA seems to be moving ahead for the betterment of 4G speed and user experience in rural and indoor areas.
After the successful second spectrum auction, NTA could move ahead for the much-awaited 5G spectrum auction or shall also move with the PoC of 5G network within 2026 by awarding free 5G spectrum to use as per NTA’s conditions. The latter is the most industry friendly spectrum approach in launching 5G network in Nepal at the earliest and setting the stage for the nationwide 5G launch.
Tell us what do you think of the latest 800 MHz spectrum auction by NTA?
