ISP License in Nepal

19th December 2020, Kathmandu

The Internet has become the basic need of everyone nowadays. There has been a huge demand for the internet for the past few years. Due to the high demand, many ISPs (Internet Service Providers) have been registered. They have been providing internet facilities all over the country.

According to ISPAN (Internet Service Providers’ Association of Nepal), there is a total of 43 registered ISPs in Nepal. As the number of ISPs is growing in Nepal, the new companies may have a difficult time breaking into the market.

Ncell, Nepal Telecom, and United Telecom Limited is leading the market with their wide-area coverage to provide mobile internet services through the infrastructures of wireless networks. Many ISPs have had their license canceled because they failed to begin the operation due to high competition in the market and lack of capital to run it.

With the aim to make the telecommunication service reliable and accessible to every people throughout the country at an affordable rate, the Nepal government brought a policy in 2004 which allowed the private sectors’ involvement in telecommunication.

Process for ISP License

If you are interested and eager to establish your own ISP then you can submit an application form to NTA (Nepal Telecommunications Authority). This form is available on the NTA website and can be downloaded from there. Along with the application form, you need a proposal with the information about the company which you want to get registered.

The information of the company includes financial aspect, marketing aspect, managerial aspect, and technical aspect.

The financial aspect of the company includes the planned and estimated amount of the company. This includes estimated capital, proposed investment, source of investment, operating cost, estimated income, estimated expenditure, and estimated profit/loss.

In the marketing aspect, you need to write the marketing plan of the company like a roll-out plan predicting the number of customers for the company each year, a time plan showing the commencement of infrastructure setup after the procurement of license, and many more.

In the managerial aspect, you should specify the human resource involving in the operation of the company, experience in the business sector, etc.

In the technical aspect, you should include all the technical factors like satellite, cable, etc. The model number, manufacturer, and the country of manufacture of the equipment to be used in the operation of the company should be included.

For detailed information on the proposal, you can visit the Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA) website.

If you have made up your mind and you are ready to start your own ISP, click here to download the form. Print out the form, fill it, and submit it to the NTA office. Nrs.100 is charged as the application fee. If NTA approves your application then the amount of Nrs.3,00,000 is charged for the ISP license.