Ncell the Nepal’s private telecom has received prestigious Telecom Asia Awards 2017 the very first kind in Nepal. The award is for implementing Most Innovative Telecom Project in Asia Pacific.
Ncell was declared winner and conferred with the Awards after independent panel of jury judged Ncell’s initiative with Gham Power Nepal Pvt. Ltd to connect the unconnected off-grid communities with telecom as well as energy by promoting off-grid clean power solutions as the most innovative project implemented by telecom service providers in Asia Pacific.
Other projects shortlisted for the Most Innovative Telecom Project were Google’s Project Loon, China Unicom’s IoT based smart parking and SK Telecom of South Korea’s first virtual assistant service ‘Nugu’. Ncell’s project was declared the best based on criteria of innovation, financial performance, technology, market leadership and corporate governance.
Ncell’s Corporate Communications Director Sanju Koirala received the award amid a gala event of 20th Telecom Asia Awards organized in Malaysia, on Wednesday.
“We are delighted that our effort to connect the unconnected and fulfill dynamic connectivity need of off-grid communities has won the international awards. The win is testament of Ncell’s exemplary works and commitment towards socio-economic advancement of the country,” said Simon Perkins, managing director of Ncell.
Telecom Asia Award, organized by Telecom Asia – Asia’s largest regional telecom publishing group – every year, rewards innovative and outstanding performance by Asian service providers and industry executives.
Under the initiative, Ncell has collaborated with local micro-grid operator, Gham Power, to support each other to connect the unconnected off-grid communities of Khotang and Udaypur districts to mobile and energy services, opening new opportunities for them. Thanks to the initiatives, people in 31 VDCs now have access to Ncell mobile network.
Surplus capacity of the micro grid has contributed in electrification of communities and created new economic opportunities and social benefits for the local people. Thanks to reliable communications and power supply, people in the project areas are operating small and medium enterprises such as electric grinding mills, computer centers, restaurants and petrol pump, among others, creating businesses and jobs at local level. School going children are able to read and write for long hours in the evening; adverse impact on health resulting from smoke of kerosene lamps has been eliminated.
Ncell has been winner of GSMA Global Mobile Awards 2016 for ‘Mobile in Emergency or Humanitarian Situations’ and recognized as Nepal Mobile Service Provider for the Year by Frost and Sullivan Asia Pacific Awards 2016, among others.