Phone cards have arrived in Nepal-finally. The Nepal Telecommunications Corporation (NTC) is installing card-operated telephone sets at various points around the city for getting its card-calling services started. Twenty such phones have already been placed at NTC's office buildings, the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) and the Bishal Bazaar Supermarket at New Road. The plan is to install over a hundred sets in public buildings and 20 more at other buildings in the Valley. Prepaid phone cards valued at Rs 200 are already in the market and NTC says those valued at Rs 500 will be offered soon. The cards can also be used for STD/ISD calls-all at normal NTC rates. For now the cards can be purchased only at NTC's regional office at Sundhara and at the TIA, pending tendering to get a private distributor as its board has decided or to find another way to get the cards in the market-which, we're told, would need another board decision.