Private telecom operator Ncell’s international call costs have increased by 6 times. NTA has approved Ncell’s proposal to hike the call rates from Nepal to 18 countries.
Ncell has hiked its international call charges to 19 countries by 6 times. Previously, Regular outgoing calls from Ncell’s number to those countries cost about Rs.5. However, with these revised rates, the call tariff will amount to a whopping Rs.30.
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Ncell’s New Charges Brings Uniformity
NTA Chairman, Purushottam Khanal informed, “NTC and Smart Cell have set about the same calling charges for their customers and Ncell’s hiked prices will bring uniformity in charges for foreign calls among the telecom operators in Nepal.”
He added that NTA accepted Ncell’s revised charges because its proposal letter maintained the same cost range as other telcos.
Ncell wanted to raise its foreign call charges because it was providing the service for the cost as low as 6 times compared to other telecom operators. Therefore, it had sent an approval letter with a new scheme to NTA, the telecom authority of Nepal. The NTA has now paved the way for Ncell to raise its foreign call charges.
Check out: Voice call tariff of Ntc, Ncell and Smart Cell |On-net, Off-net
Hiked Charges to Militgate For ILD Losses
Ncell says it has incurred substantial losses in ILD (International Long Distance) service revenues due to its extremely low call rates. Ncell has also maintained it has provided six times lower charges on ILD for five years even though NTA has approved for higher tariffs.
In numbers, Ncell has suffered “an impermissible loss” of Rs.275 million in international call costs from 2016 till April 2021. Meanwhile, Ncell states even these revisions on ILD won’t break even because the costs for calls to a few European destinations are higher than the applied rate. Check out: Ncell Profit decline in Q1 2021.
The telco detailed that call tariff to some countries cost as high as Rs.1,170.30 (excl. taxes) while NTA has only mandated Rs.30 per minute that leaves a huge gulf in maintaining the ILD loss.
The recent improvement in its International Call Rates will help Ncell mitigate its ILD losses if not reverse it. While Ncell continues to bear losses due to heavy charges to some European countries, it can expect to narrow the losses in the coming days.
Since coming into operation, the private telco has paid over Rs. 242 billion in taxes and fees as of the last fiscal year 2019/20. Apart from being one of the key tax contributors, Ncell has continuously fulfilled its Corporate Social Responsibility. So far it has invested more than Rs.1.27 billion contributing to the socio-economic development of Nepalese residing in various parts of the country.
Find The List Of Those Countries
Ncell’s revised call charges will apply for calls to 19 countries. They are Italy, Malta, Germany, Tajikistan, Jordan, Thailand, Latvia, Lebanon, Slovenia, Maldives, Belgium, Estonia, Croatia, Finland, Netherlands Bulgaria, Syria, Lithuania, and Cyprus.
Calling to numbers in these countries cost Rs.4.99 previously, but now these calls will cost you Rs.30 per minute.
What is your view on Ncell’s newly hiked costs on its outgoing charges to 19 foreign destinations? Will it dissuade you from making traditional foreign calls via Ncell’s mobile network? You can share your opinion with us in the comments section below.
