KATHMANDU: Minister for Communications and Information Technology Rekha Sharma has stressed the need for providing mobile and internet access for all people across the country.

There is a need to increase the quality of the service and make mobile and telecommunications fees affordable, said the minister at an event organized here on the silver jubilee of the Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA).

“I especially urge the NTA to prioritize its social responsibilities. There is a need for it to take concrete steps to upgrade the lifestyle of people through information technology by utilizing the state’s available resources,” she said.

Stating that there are drastic changes in global telecommunications and information technology, the minister said there was the need of the hour to make the service quality, reliable and affordable.

It required to develop and expand telecommunications service by carrying out necessary amendments at policy, legal and structural levels in relation to the operation and use of the service, mentioned Minister Sharma.

She stressed the need for removing anomalies and problems (if any) in the telecommunications sector and expanding the service all over the country.

“The importance, relevance, and need of telecommunications and information technology in the world have been increasing day by day. Now, it has been established as an important service sector. This affects all dimensions of people,” added Minister Sharma.

Time has come to contribute to the gross domestic product of the country by increasing production through information technology, she viewed.

The NTA should make an action plan for the construction of telecommunications infrastructures and the effective delivery of telecommunications service through the Rural Telecommunications Development Fund, she suggested.

Minister Sharma said, “It is imperative to prepare National Information Highway by laying optical fiber in the districts along the Mid-Hill Highway and to accelerate ensuring access of broadband services in the public health facilities, public schools, and all 753 local levels across the country.”

Underscoring the need for the Nepal Telecommunications Authority to pay special attention to the construction of physical infrastructures especially in the digital foundation sector to materialize the concept of Digital Nepal as envisaged by the Digital Nepal Framework-2076 BS, the Minister asserted that the incumbent government had prioritized putting in place policy and legal provisions to ensure cyber security and confidentiality of the government statistics.”