They may be government employees but Nepal Telecom staff are threatening to resume protests from Sunday unless pre-paid phones, blocked since 1 February, are allowed to start operating. Telecom Employees Association of Nepal (TEAN) said it was disheartened by the government's lackadaisical attitude which is costing the company billions of rupees. "We have been forced to announce the protest programs once again because of the lack of response from the government," said Kumar Jang Karki of the Nepal Telecom Workers Union (NTWU). The unions accuse the government of a conspiracy to allow the private-sector Spice Nepal to begin operating before NT is allowed to restart its pre-paid mobiles phones. Of the 250,000 mobile phones the government has resumed only 41,500 post-paid lines in Kathmandu, Pokhara and Biratnagar. Another 170,000 pre-paid lines remain out of service.