February 11, 2020, Kathmandu
The government has chosen to prohibit new investors and protecting old investors in the field of telecommunications. The government has closed the door to CG Communication Pvt. Ltd., which is ready to invest at least Rs. 25 Arba in the field of telecommunications.
Managing Director of CG Communications Nirvana Chaudhary said that the government did not support CG Telecom’s efforts to provide telecommunication services based on new technology, supporting the government’s policy of making digital Nepal. If the government gives us a license to operate the service, there will be a big change in the field of communication in Nepal within two years. Consumers will get both data and voice services at half price, “he said at a press conference on Sunday. He added, “Old companies have invested heavily in infrastructure based on old technology. Perhaps the government wants to protect its investment. If we are allowed by the government, we adopt new technology. It also costs less and consumers can avail the service at a cheaper price.”
He said that CG telecom needs help in fulfilling everyone’s dream of bringing Nepali consumers to the 5G network. Chaudhary appealed to all parties to cooperate with the CG Telecommunications demanding a unified license to which the government is refusing to grant the license.
Just last week, the Telecommunications Regulatory body of Nepal, the Nepal Telecommunications Authority, had issued a termination to the permit in seven districts that allowed CG Telecommunications to operate the ‘Limited Mobility Service’. Likewise, Minister for Communications and Information Technology Gokul Baskota had said that CG would get a unified license for Rs 20 Arba, just like every other company.
Subsequently, the news regarding the misunderstanding between the government and CG Telecom are becoming public. According to the Chaudhary Group, the government cannot ask for Rs 20 Arba at the outset of their venture as there is a rule to submit the amount within 10 years of the license commencement. “The minister said that unified licenses will be granted only after CG Telecommunications has paid Rs 20 Arba in advance,” said Madhusudan Poudel, a spokesman for Chaudhary Group. This claim from the government’s side isn’t quite justified by the law.
CG Communications said that till now, they’ve handed over Rs. 44,94,57,723 to the government. Managing director Nirvana Chaudhary said that they had repeatedly communicated to the ministry and the authorities about the reasons for not getting a unified license, stating that there was no pending issue of payment to the government.
On February 26, 2019, the World Mobile Congress was held in Barcelona. A bilateral agreement was signed on the technical partnership between CG Communications Pvt. Ltd and TurkCell. In addition, a strategic partnership with Turkcell was signed in the presence of the ministers of the Government at the Investment Conference held in Nepal on March 29 and 30, 2019.
Higher government officials have repeatedly stated that it is the government’s policy to encourage the private sector to invest in economic prosperity. However, other investors say that they will be discouraged if the Nepal government doesn’t cooperate with a Nepal based company is willing to invest more than Rs 25 Arba in the growing telecommunications industry.
