Kathmandu, June 28 -- The formation of a new government under Balendra Shah has once again revived discussions about bringing a new telecommunications service provider into the market, with the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology signalling that expanding competition has become one of its priorities.

Minister for Communications and Information Technology Bikram Timilsina has repeatedly said the government sees a need for additional telecom operators to compete alongside the country's two existing mobile service providers.

"At present we have only two operators. We believe Nepal needs another operator-or even more than one," said Timilsina during a press conference at the ministry on May 13. "The Nepal Telecommunication...