Nta Tells ISPs to Refrain from ‘Unnecessary’ Price War

NTA has warned ISPs over perpetuating the ever-spiraling price war on their high-speed internet plans. The telecom authority cautioned ISPs over their ‘arbitrary’ prices on their internet packages and deemed the price war ‘unnecessary’.

The telecom authority summoned ISPAN, and the representatives of major ISPs and urged them not to indulge in an unreasonable price war.

Ever since CG Net’s break-out internet package, Nepal’s leading ISPs have introduced high-speed packages. This quickly catapulted Nepal’s 2 digit packages to up to 1000 Mbps, and that in over a span of 7 months. But the telecom regulator, NTA has questioned the ISPs’ integrity over their assigning indiscriminate prices.

At the meeting, NTA expressed its displeasure that the customers were misled in the name of high-speed internet packages.

Tariff approval is mandatory before rolling out a service (internet package) commercially to customers. It implies that ISPs have not followed this regulation. Previously, Nta warned ISPs that they launched their high-speed plans without tariff approval.  

The regulator has urged all ISPs to first get the service charge approval on any internet package. Likewise, NTA deemed the incessant price war unreasonable and unnecessary and warned the ISPs against perpetuating it further.

Also read: How Did The Internet Speed War Begin And What To Make Of It?

NTA sternly warns ISPs against Price War, to form a sub-committee

NTA’s meeting urged ISPs to acquire tariff approval and determine the price of their internet packages. Additionally, it decided to address the concerns of service providers. For this, NTA will form a sub-committee. The sub-committee will identify solutions to short-term and long-term issues of the ISPs. The sub-committee will also have a representative from ISPAN.

The meeting comprised Nta Directors Arjun Ghimire and Ambar Sthapit and other high-ranking officials. Meanwhile, the chief of ISPAN, and the representatives from WorldLink, Dish Home, Vianet, Classic Tech, CG Net, etc attended the meeting. The meeting took place on April 4^th.  

Nepal’s internet speed has surged from a banal 2 digits to 1 Gbps at maximum. But the complaints have not dissipated. It’s still common to notice customers complaining over not getting promised speeds, disconnections, and other issues relating to the service. NTA’s latest caution might have something to alleviate it.

What is the bandwidth speed of your internet package? Are you getting the speed that your ISP promised you? Do share with us in the comments below.