Kathmandu: It has been revealed that Nepal Telecom has used ‘974’ range number in the mobile service (Global System of Mobile Communication (GSM)) without permission.

After the range of 98 was ‘occupied’, the telco had started giving GSM number in the range of 97. However, the Nepal Telecommunication Authority (NTA) has instructed not to do so saying that the ‘974’ range number has been used without permission.

Until last year, the telco was only using Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) in the range of 97. Telecom, which is preparing to discontinue CDMA technology, has been encouraging customers to switch from CDMA to GSM since last July. At present, the new GSM SIM is also being distributed in the range of 97.

At present, there are about 320,000 CDMA users in Nepal. Telecom now plans to take them to GSM and also distribute numbers from the new range to new users.