Nepal Telecom to distribute new pre-paid cell phone lines

Nepal Telecom (NT), the state- owned telecom provider of Nepal, will start distributing new pre- paid cell phones in the capital Kathmandu Valley from Jan. 14, a senior official at NT said Kathmandu Wednesday.

"Around 29,000 lines will be distributed within a period of one week between Jan. 14 and Jan. 20 to customers who submitted application forms between Oct. 10 and Oct. 24, 2005." the official said on condition of anonymity.

After completion of the proposed distribution, the NT is planning to start distributing pre-paid mobile lines on a regular basis, which means mobile lines will be available on demand, the official noted.

"However, the new non-stop distribution will be started only around mid-February," he added.

Despite huge demand, NT has not been able to issue more than 22, 000 lines ever since the pre-paid services were resumed in the Valley on Aug. 22, 2005. "About 120,000 clients have already applied for pre-paid sim cards, and hundreds of others are waiting for NT to start distribution," he said.

NT, which started distributing pre-paid lines from August 2003, has already issued more than 200,000 pre-paid sim cards, he added.

Source: Xinhua