KATHMANDU: Nepal has taken a step toward the 5G era as the country’s leading telecom operator has been licenced to conduct 5G network trials.

Santosh Paudel, spokesman for Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA), told Xinhua on Thursday that the regulator permitted Nepal Telecom to conduct 5G trials early this week.

“The company has been licenced to conduct trials on 2,600 MHz band with 60 MHz of frequency bandwidth within a year,” he said, noting it is the first time that any telecom operator has ever been allowed to do 5G trials in the South Asian country.

Ncell, a private telecom giant, has also sought permission to launch 5G trials, the NTA noted.

While authorised to bring 5G network equipment from vendors for trials, Nepal Telecom said it has not decided yet when to start the trials.

“We’re concerned whether the NTA provides us the same frequency for commercial operation as that we’re going to use for conducting trials,” Rajesh Joshi, spokesman for Nepal Telecom, told Xinhua on Thursday.

“We have to invest in telecommunication gears for 5G testing,” he said. “If we don’t get the same frequency for commercial use, our investment in gears for 5G trials will be wasted. So we’re currently in discussion with the NTA regarding this matter.”

He added that once the issue is clarified, his company would move forward with 5G trials, including importing telecommunications equipment.

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