KATHMANDU: Free Wi-Fi service has been made available at 19 public locations across Kathmandu under the initiative of Minister for Communications and Information Technology Jagadish Kharel.

The service has been expanded to major public areas including hospitals, transport hubs, and heritage sites. Capacity upgrades and maintenance have been completed at previously connected locations, while eight new sites have been added — three of which are still under construction.

According to the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, free Wi-Fi is now operational at the New Bus Park, Bhaktapur Hospital, Bhaktapur Cancer Hospital, Kirtipur Hospital, and Tribhuvan International Airport with enhanced network capacity.

Installation work is ongoing at the Thulobharyang Transport Management Office in Kathmandu, the Ekantakuna Transport Management Office in Lalitpur, and the Radhe-Radhe Transport Management Office in Bhaktapur.

Bandwidth at existing locations, including Bir Hospital, TU Teaching Hospital, Paropakar Maternity Hospital, Teku Hospital, Kanti Children’s Hospital, Gangalal Heart Center, Civil Hospital, National Trauma Center, Patan Hospital, Shahid Dharmabhakta National Transplant Center, and the Pashupatinath area, has been upgraded from 10 Mbps to 150 Mbps. Per-device capacity has increased from 100 MB to 500 MB.

The project has been implemented in partnership with Nepal Telecom, WorldLink, and ViaNet, with coordination from the Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA).

Nepal Telecom has also prepared a plan to expand free Wi-Fi to 35 airports nationwide. Additionally, work has begun to extend the service to 10 major cities outside Kathmandu Valley.

A team led by Minister Kharel is scheduled to inspect service sites at the New Bus Park, TU Teaching Hospital, Pashupati area, and Tribhuvan International Airport between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. today.