The 18th meeting of the South Asia Telecommunications Regulators' Council (SATRC) has begun here Tuesday.
Representatives associated with Ministry of Information and Communications and chiefs of Telecom Regulating Bodies of nine countries including Nepal are participating in the three-day meeting organized under the coordination of Nepal Telecom Authority.
The meeting will elect Nepal as the chair of the Council. The meeting will discuss on how to fulfill Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030 through the medium of telecommunications, information and technology and digital structure as well as on how to move ahead in days ahead by reviewing the progress made in the sector of telecommunications regulation in recent periods in these countries.
Inaugurating the meeting, Minister for Information and Communications Mohan Bahadur Basnet said that there are challenges regarding how to regulate the newly developed technologies in the sector of telecommunications in a legal manner.
Basnet said that the government was committed to fulfilling SDGs through information technology. He said, "Nepal has now moved ahead toward the journey of economic prosperity by ending political transition after holding elections of local level, House of Representatives and Provincial Assemblies."
Similarly, Communications Secretary Kedar Bahadur Adhikari stressed the need of joining hands to launch 5G service in telecommunication sector as well as to control cybercrime and to regulate new technologies.
Likewise, Chairperson of Nepal Telecom Authority Digamber Jha said that both—technical and legal sides should be made strong to regulate telecom sector.
The meeting would prepare a new action plan to regulate telecommunications in South Asia.
