The Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA) has granted long-awaited approval for the construction of 943 new Base Transceiver Station (BTS) towers to two major telecom service providers - Ncell and Nepal Telecom.

According to NTA Spokesperson Min Prasad Aryal, Ncell has received permission to install 743 towers, including 443 ground-based and 300 non-ground-based BTS. Similarly, Nepal Telecom has been approved to build 200 ground-based towers. These approvals were issued on Asar 27 and Asar 30 (corresponding to mid-July 2025), following a two-year freeze on telecom infrastructure expansion by the regulator.

The stalled permissions - originally requested two years ago by the telecom operators for network expansion and service capacity enhancement - were finally approved under the leadership of newly appointed NTA Chairman Bhupendra Bhandari, who assumed office on Falgun 8, 2080 (February 20, 2024). This marks the first major infrastructure decision under his tenure.

The delay had stemmed from internal paralysis at the NTA following high-profile corruption investigations. The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) had previously filed charges against several NTA officials in connection with procurement irregularities involving the Telecom Traffic Monitoring System (Teramox), Mobile Device Management System (MDMS), and Nepal Telecom’s billing system. Fear of legal repercussions had rendered NTA officials reluctant to take decisive action on infrastructure development.

Due to the absence of departmental leadership and fear-driven inaction among NTA staff, the authority failed to execute any major strategic or long-term infrastructure decisions over the past fiscal year. Sources inside the NTA confirmed that the institution recorded its lowest annual performance in recent memory.

The breakthrough decision came only after repeated directives and pressure from the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology, prompting NTA to approve the long-pending telecom tower expansion files during the final week of Asar.

Following the NTA’s go-ahead, both Ncell and Nepal Telecom will now proceed with equipment procurement, foreign currency approval processes, and necessary import arrangements to execute the expansion. These infrastructure upgrades are expected to improve network performance, reduce service blackouts, and extend coverage to underserved regions.

NTA’s Aryal stated that the tower expansion will directly contribute to the improvement of existing 4G services and create a foundation for the rollout of 5G services within the current fiscal year, in line with the government’s national digital agenda. The regulator has already allocated specific frequency bands within the 900 MHz spectrum for 4G, a move telecom companies say will provide better signal penetration and efficiency compared to the existing 1800 MHz spectrum.

The newly approved spectrum allocation and infrastructure expansion will make it easier for telecom operators to deploy 5G in the coming months, fulfilling the government’s long-standing commitment to launching 5G services in Nepal.

NTA believes that improved telecom infrastructure will enhance Nepal’s digital connectivity, attract foreign investment in the ICT sector, and bridge the urban-rural digital divide - crucial for digital transformation, economic modernization, and the broader goals of the Digital Nepal Framework.