NT employee warn of fresh protests

August 18, 2005
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Asking the government to resume operation of re-registered pre-paid mobile phones by Sunday, workers of Nepal Telecom (NT) have warned authorities of fresh round of protests.

“We have been forced to announce the protest programs once again after the government’s apathy about resuming operation of pre-paid services,” reports quoted president of Nepal Telecom Workers Union (NTWU) Kumar Jung Karki and President of Telecom Employees Association of Nepal (TEAN) Tankalal Shrestha, as saying.

The organizations have also warned the authorities not to allow Spice Nepal Private Limited (SNPL) to operate their services. SNPL- the first private company to operate mobile service in Nepal- successfully soft launched its services in Kathmandu over a week ago. The NTWU and TEAN are the two largest trade unions of NT.

Mobile services had been suspended in Nepal immediately after the royal takeover in February 1. However, the government from May 2 resumed 40,000 post-paid phones in Kathmandu valley while the service resumed operations in Pokhara and Biratnagar from last month.

Of the 249,000 mobile phone lines including 173,200 pre-paid lines, the government altogether has resumed nearly 41,500 post-paid lines in Kathmandu, Pokhara and Biratnagar.