The Internet Service Providers Association of Nepal (ISPAN) has requested an additional 15 days to manage messy and unused cables on utility poles in Kathmandu Valley, with Ministry of Communications warning that this will be the final extension.
The Internet Service Providers Association of Nepal (ISPAN) has asked for 15 more days of time after they failed to manage messy and unused internet, telephone, and cable wires on poles in Kathmandu Valley within the given deadline. The Ministry of Information and Communications has clearly said that this is going to be last time they are giving extension to the service providers.
Stakeholders Discuss Wire Management Issues
During a meeting of stakeholders held on Friday at the ministry, ISPAN said they could not complete the work on time and requested for extra days. Representatives from Ministry of Communication, Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation, Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA), Nepal Telecom, ISPAN, and other related bodies were present in the meeting.
Minister of Information and Communication, Dr. Bikram Timilsina, reviewed the progress of messy wire management and expressed his unhappiness because the work was not finished within the deadline. He said government is ready to help solve the problems, but now they must show results in their work.
“Government will definitely bring this wire management work to end, you must be clear on this,” Minister Timilsina said. He added that while some days of delay can happen during work, they cannot keep extending the time forever.
Responsibility of the Service Providers
The Minister also said that managing these messy wires is legal and business responsibility of the service providers. He mentioned that if this work was done in past, this difficult situation would not have come today. He also ordered to study how different providers can share same infrastructure in future.
Minister expressed dissatisfaction on performance of both ISPAN and Nepal Telecommunications Authority. He reminded them that they had previously promised to finish the work by Saun 15. Since ISPAN has asked for 15 more days, they must provide reliable proof that the work will actually finish this time.
Current Progress and Reasons for Delay
CEO of ISPAN, Subash Khadka, shared that about 58 percent of work has been completed so far in six routes chosen for the first phase in Kathmandu Valley. He said wire management is also going on in other parts of country alongside Kathmandu.
ISPAN stated that the work got delayed because Nepal Electricity Authority did not provide enough infrastructure, and they faced difficulties in deploying workers. They also faced traffic and police management issues, and lack of skilled workers. Now, ISPAN plans to focus all available workers in one area at a time to complete work faster.
Earlier, in a high-level meeting on Asar 31, ISPAN had promised to finish managing messy wires on six routes of Kathmandu Valley by Saun 15.
AI Disclaimer: This article was originally published on https://bajarkochirfar.com. It has been translated with the help of AI. For the best understanding and accurate facts, we recommend reading the original Nepali version.
