MoIC warns telcos to licence third mobile player (Nepal)

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Nepal’s Minister for Information and Communications Shankar Pokharel has warned that the government may license a third mobile network operator if current incumbents Nepal Telecom and Spice Nepal Private Limited (SNPL, or Mero Mobile) do not improve their service quality. The minister reportedly said, ‘It is the responsibility of the telecom company to provide the consumers whether by upgrading the technology or hiring qualified human resources who know how to fix the problems.’ He further said, ‘If they fail to come up with a solution, the government will have to resort to the option of bringing in another telecom company to enhance competition and give the quality of service that people desire.’

According to the survey conducted by the regulator the Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA) in September 2007 found that 66% of calls made from NT cell phones had ‘encountered problems’. Although the figure for Spice Nepal was just 8.52%, since then its subscribers have complained of a significant deterioration in service quality.