Three Years after Trials, Nepal Telecom Remains Silent on 5G Rollout

Nepal Telecom has remained non-committal on the commercial rollout of its high-speed 5G network, three years after completing trial tests, raising further uncertainty over the future of the technology in Nepal.

As the state-owned telecom operator marked its 22nd anniversary on Thursday, the company made no concrete announcement regarding plans to adopt 5G technology—an issue that has drawn increasing public and industry attention. Government officials present at the event also largely avoided discussing the matter.

The government, in the current fiscal year’s budget, had announced plans to introduce 5G services in the Kathmandu Valley and major urban centres. However, Nepal Telecom’s silence during the anniversary programme suggested little progress toward that goal.

The uncertainty comes at a time when Nepal Telecom has been without permanent leadership for the past eight months. Company officials also refrained from commenting on the introduction of 5G during the event.

The KP Sharma Oli-led government had appointed Sangita Pahadi as the managing director of Nepal Telecom in September 2024. However, she was suspended after the Special Court filed a corruption case against her on June 8, 2025, accusing her of irregularities related to the extension of a contract for the maintenance of the company’s billing system. Since then, the company has been operating under acting leadership.

While neighbouring India and other South Asian countries have already rolled out 5G service and are reaping technological benefits, Nepal Telecom appears to be losing momentum. The lack of commitment to the costly 5G investment has further highlighted the challenges facing the government-owned telecom operator.

There has also been ongoing discussion about geopolitical pressures influencing Nepal Telecom’s indecision. The United States has been campaigning globally against the use of Chinese 5G technology, and observers say Nepal has not remained unaffected by these dynamics.

The absence of a clear 5G roadmap at the anniversary programme also left regulatory officials dissatisfied. Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA) Chairman Bhupendra Bhandari expressed concern that Nepal Telecom was missing a crucial opportunity.

According to Bhandari, the authority had earlier provided Nepal Telecom with spectrum for 5G trials free of cost, but the company failed to capitalise on it.

“We gave Nepal Telecom spectrum free of charge for trial, but the work did not progress,” he said. “Now, if we provide further facilities, other service providers will raise questions about a level playing field. Had the company made good use of the opportunity earlier, things would have been easier today. A major opportunity has been lost.”

Despite these concerns, Nepal Telecom Chairperson and Secretary at the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, Laxmi Kumari Basnet, did not address the issue of 5G during Thursday’s programme. Instead, she emphasised the need to expand services in remote areas and reduce the digital divide.

Basnet said customer satisfaction was the foundation of the company’s sustainable growth and urged Nepal Telecom to focus on emerging sectors such as telehealth, telemedicine and tele-education—remarks that suggested the company does not view an immediate shift to 5G as a priority.

Nepal, which was among the first in South Asia to introduce 3G services in 2007, has now fallen significantly behind in the race for 5G. The Maldives launched 5G as early as 2019, while India, which introduced the service in 2022, has already expanded coverage to around 90 percent of its territory. Pakistan and Sri Lanka are also preparing for commercial rollouts.

In contrast, Nepal, which conducted 5G trials in 2023, continues to face growing uncertainty over its commercial deployment.