After years of pressure from the private sector to end the state monopoly on telecommunications, a policy allowing private players to run telecom services is to finally come into effect soon.

The documents were drafted a month ago, and lawyers are giving it a final touch. "We just need time to develop a legal framework and a process to open up the services to the private sector," says Mukunda Prasad Acharya, spokesperson for the Ministry of Information and Communication. Plans to privatise Nepal Telecommunication Centre (NTC) and open up the telecom sector to private companies started in 2000, and gathered momentum with public outrage over NTC's poor service.

While the decision opens up a new wave of opportunity for private companies, NTC will also be given a stake in the competitive market. "The government will no longer control NTC and limit its commercial growth," says Acharya. Plans to privatise NTC are underway, but the government may take it slowly since it doesn't want to antagonise its large staff. It may first be turned into a public limited company and float shares. "In the long run, this will be good for NTC, and Nepalis will have access to all kinds of telecom services," adds Acharya. To make the services easily available in the rural areas, the government has also decided to establish a Rural Telecommunications Fund. There are also provisions for a new cyber law.