If everything goes as planned, Nepal would soon become the first country in the South Asia region to roll out 5G services, reported The Kathmandu Post. A plan for the pilot project involving four districts, including Kathmandu Valley, is already underway and may start testing by July. 

We had already submitted a proposal on 1 February to the National Frequency Determining Committee under the Ministry of Information, Communication, and Technology to issue a separate frequency for 5G operations, said Min Prasad Aryal, the director of the Nepal Telecommunication Authority. 

“The decision may most likely come by next week,” he said, adding they would first identify the spectrum required for installing 5G technology. “The service will then be tested in multiple geographical locations, and feedback will be collected before it goes into commercial operation,” he said.

The department has started working on fixing frequency, bandwidth, spectrum, and distribution process, and pricing. 

Presently, all 77 districts in Nepal have 4G connectivity which started in 2017. Aryal informed that 75 percent population has devices supportive of 4G.  

The fifth-generation 5G technology standard for cellular broadband networks, and offers faster connections, higher throughput, and more capacity than 4G, and will benefit areas of high traffic such as public places.