This landmark certification comes in the wake of a directive issued by the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MoCIT) in January 2025, aimed at establishing a regulatory framework for managing data centres and cloud services within the country. As per the Data Centre and Cloud Services (Operation and Management) Directives 2025, all existing data centre and cloud service providers are required to obtain individual certifications from the DoIT before the deadline of June 2025.
Ncell’s certification follows a comprehensive assessment of its infrastructure, which included a detailed inspection process. The company operates a Tier III integrated data centre located in Nakkhu, Lalitpur, along with two disaster recovery data centres situated in Pokhara and Hetauda. To secure the certification, Ncell was required to provide extensive documentation covering various aspects, including fire safety protocols, organizational security policies, privacy policies, business continuity plans, data centre tier classification, and details of its IP pool. These requirements ensured that Ncell meets all necessary operational standards and security protocols.
“Given the growing market for data centres and cloud services, this certification holds significant importance,” said Dion Asencio, Ncell’s Chief Business Officer.
Ncell is not alone in the data centre space; other operators in Nepal include its competitor Subisu, Cloud Himalaya, and DataHub. Additionally, Nepal Telecom has recently signed a letter of intent with Huawei to establish a data centre and disaster recovery centre, valued at NPR 484 million. Moreover, India’s Yotta Data Services is actively developing a new data centre near Kathmandu under a deal that was finalized in April 2024.
