Tenth Amendment to the Telecommunication Regulations, 2054 (1997 A.D.)

Introduction

On October 28, 2024, the Government of Nepal ("GON") enacted the Telecommunication Regulations (Tenth Amendment), 2081 (2024 A.D.) ("Amendment") in the Nepal Gazette amending the Telecommunication Regulations, 2054 (1997 A.D.) (" Regulations").  Original version of the notice can be accessed here.

This Amendment has been enacted to give effect to Section 33(4) of the Telecommunications Act, 2053 (1997 A.D.) ("Telecom Act") in relation to re-issuance of telecommunications license (“License”) after the expiry of initial 25 years term.  The Amendment outlines the procedures for re-issuance of Licenses pursuant to the Telecom Act.  This Alert aims to highlight the newly added provision brought by the Tenth Amendment.

New Provisions Introduced:

The following new provisions have been introduced:

Re-issuance of Licenses:

A Licensee with up to fifty percent foreign investment whose initial License term of 25 years is about to expire, may seek re-issuance of the License, subject to the following conditions:

• The Licensee may only have up to fifty percent foreign ownership at the time of seeking re-issuance of the License;

• The Licensee shall comply with the terms of the previous License including payment of the royalties and Rural Telecommunication Development Fee to the GON and Nepal Telecommunications Authority ("NTA").

The re-issued License shall be valid for twenty-five years at the maximum, provided that such License shall not be issued for a period of more than ten years at a time.

Renewal of reobtained license

The re-issued License may be renewed in the same manner as a license issued under Telecom Act.  However, the re-issued license can be renewed for only five years at a time.  New licenses issued under Telecom Act also may be renewed for a period of five years at a time.