May 29: The government is set to launch the Mobile Device Management System (MDMS),  a software that allows IT administrators to control, secure and enforce policies on smartphones, tablets and other endpoints, from the upcoming fiscal year (July 16)  in a bid to control the illegal import of mobile phones.

Finance Minister Bishunu Poudel made this announcement while unveiling the budget for the upcoming fiscal year (FY 2021/22) on Saturday, May 29.

MDMS will track mobile phones based on the IMEI number of those devices. The government is set to introduce the system to control the grey market of mobile phones and bring all the mobile phones under legal registration. 

According to Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA), it has allocated its own funds for the cost of designing, developing and operation the MDMS software. 

The government has also announced plans to extend broadband Internet service to all local units by utilizing  the Rural Telecommunication Development Fund (RTDF). It has also announced to extend 4G service to all local units and provide free broadband service to all community schools in the next two years. 

While presenting the budget, Minister Poudel also made the announcement to complete the construction of the Information Superhighway within two years. Optical fiber projects that are being built in seven provinces form the backbone of the information highway. The state-owned telecom service provider, Nepal Telecom, is laying optical fiber in provinces 1, 2, Bagmati Province, Karnali Province and Sudurpaschim Province. In provinces 4 and 5, United Telecom Limited had received the contract but couldn't make any headway in the project. The case is now pending in the court as NTA refused to extend the deadline of the project for UTL. 

Finance Minister Poudel also announced to launch NTV World to broadcast the contents of the state-owned television channel all over the world.