Land acquisition 'big problem' for national pride projects

KATHMANDU, JAN 21 -
Land acquisition has emerged as one of the biggest problems for the government while implementing infrastructure development plans. Be it national priority road projects, railway development or extension of transmission lines, the problem is persisting, with local residents demanding compensation higher than the government estimation.

A progress report prepared by the National Planning Commission (NPC) on infrastructure projects based on the first four months (Mid-July to mid-November) of the current fiscal year has clearly stated that the failure to acquire land in time has been one of the major factors for the failure to achieve set targets.

Kathmandu Tarai Fast Track road, Mid-Hills Highway, railway project and North-South Corridor road projects all have faced land acquisition hurdles.

Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai admitted that land acquisition has become a ‘big problem’ for infrastructure projects. Addressing the 28th meeting of the National Development Problems Solution Committee on Sunday, he directed the ministries concerned to take the issue seriously and end the practice of setting different prices for the same land.

New spectrum policy to be reviewed following moans

KATHMANDU, JAN 16 -The government has agreed to review its newly introduced spectrum policy bowing to pressure from telecom companies. The Ministry of Information and Communications has begun taking a second look at the spectrum policy after Nepal Telecom (NT) and Nepal Satellite Telecom (NST) complained about it.

The ministry had unveiled the new policy entitled Telecommuni-cations Radio Frequency Distribution and Pricing Policy 2012 in November with a focus on auctioning spectrum, bringing more 3G service providers, issuing unified licences and collecting 3G spectrum fees from NT and Ncell. Not long after, telecom companies demanded that the government review the policy as it requires them to pay a higher spectrum fee and limits spectrum allocation.

A source at the Communications Ministry said that the plan was to get feedback for a year and modify the policy accordingly instead of enforcing it strictly. “The Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA) is set to call a meeting of telecom companies soon to discuss problems related to the policy,” the source added.

Telecom penetration rate reaches 70pc

KATHMANDU, JAN 02 -Telecom service penetration rate in Nepal has reached 70 percent at the mid-November 2012. A total of 18.45 million population of the country now has access to telecom services, according to the Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA).

Of the total users, 16.37 million are the users of services offered by private sector telecom company Ncell and state-owned Nepal Telecom (NT), the latest Management Information System report of the NTA showed. The penetration rate on mobile service alone increased to 61.82 percent as a result of operators’ competition for market share.

In mid-November 2010, the country’s mobile penetration rate was at 31.56 percent. The market witnessed a rapid growth in subscriber base after the first quarter of 2010, with Ncell aggressively expanding its service after re-branding. As per NTA, Ncell and NT have 8.91 million and 8.22 million subscriber base, respectively, as of mid-November 2012.

Stay order issued against Jha’s appointment

KATHMANDU, JAN 01 - The Supreme Court on Monday issued a stay order against the appointment of Digambar Jha as the new chairman of the Nepal Telecom munications Authority (NTA). The government had named Jha as the NTA chief on Dec 4, 2012.

A division joint bench of Judges Kalyan Shrestha and Sushila Karki issued the interim order ruling that Jha did not possess the required qualifications for the post.

Jha’s appointment had drawn criticism as it was against the Telecommunications Act and Regulation 1997 and the criteria set by the Ministry of Information and Communications.