Nepal Travel Guide - Communications

Country code: 977.

Roaming agreements exist with some international mobile phone companies. Coverage is sporadic and variable.

There are Internet cafes in Kathmandu, Patan and Pokhara - many with high-speed broadband links. Internet services are also provided by hotels.

Postal services are available in most centres. Make sure letters are hand-cancelled at the post office (post boxes should not be used for important communications).

Post office hours: The general post office in Kathmandu (near the Dharahara Tower) is open Mon-Fri 0900-1700. Main hotels will also handle post.

The Maoist rebellion in Nepal, and the efforts to suppress it, have had a profound impact on the media. Media rights groups say attacks on media workers have been perpetrated by both sides in the conflict. In recent years, more journalists had been arrested in Nepal than in any other country. Press freedoms were suspended under a state of emergency invoked by King Gyanendra in February 2005, and then enshrined in law. As a result, some newspapers left their editorial pages blank, or published editorials on deliberately bland topics. Up to 60 private FM radio stations were ordered not to broadcast political news. The new multi-party government of 2006 has eased some of the edicts but in 2007 there were reports of reporters fleeing violence in the south. The government publishes newspapers, and operates national radio and TV services. However, there is a growing number of private radio stations.

• English-language newspapers available in Nepal are The Himalayan Times, The Kathmandu Post, Rising Nepal and The Nepali Times.
• Other dailies include Kantipur and Annapurna Post.
• The International Herald Tribune, Newsweek and Time can all be found in Kathmandu.
• State-owned Gorkhapatra is Nepal's oldest newspaper.

• Nepalese Television Corporation (NTV) is state run.
• Private channels include Kantipur TV, Image Channel TV and Channel Nepal.

• Radio Nepal is state-run.
• HBC 94 FM is operated by the Himalayan Broadcasting Company.
• FM station Radio Sagarmatha is a public, community station.
• Kantipur FM, Image FM and Hits FM are commercial stations.
• BBC World Service is available on FM in Kathmandu.