Nepal Telecom has announced it would add “channel element cards” in its 150 BTS towers in the Kathmandu Valley to improve service quality. It said the works in this front would start from mid-February.

Nepal Telecom Mangaging Director Buddhi Prasad Acharya said the company would lay 1,000km of optical fibre in 11 districts to expand data service coverage.

With power shortage affecting telecom services, NT said it would enhance the capacity of power back-up systems.

The company also plans to expand its GSM service along the BP Highway in the next six months. Acharya said the procurement process for laying optical fibre along the Mid-Hill highway has begun. He said preparations are under way to introduce 4G service.

On the occasion of its 13th anniversary of its conversion from state-owned corporation into a company, NT announced providing SIM cards with a talk value of Rs50 to all foreign tourists entering Nepal by air free of cost from February 19. “The main motive behind the decision is to promote Nepal’s tourism and NT’s business,” said Acharya.

The state-run telecom service provider has been making available SIM cards at Tribhuvan International Airport since 2009.

Acharya also announced a number of discount offers on NT services. On data packages of GSM/CDMA , equal volume of data will be made available as bonus. The plan is applicable for both pre- and post-paid services. For GSM data packages, the fee has been reduced by 12 percent for a week period from Friday. NT has also offered discount on its SMS service.

NT has extended the promotional offer in its internet (Fiber to The Home) service until mid-April. Existing customers of the service will also get bonus of 3-12GB based on the volume of data purchased.