Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA) has sternly told telecom companies (telcos) to improve their mobile service across major cities and highways. The latest tell off comes after several complaints by subscribers regarding poor mobile networks suffered by customers.
On Falgun 16, the regulator sent a letter to Nepal Telecom (NTC) and Ncell instructing them to improve their service quality in various areas around the country. The authority cited widespread user complaints behind the directive. In the letter, Nta mentioned Kathmandu, Pokhara, and Bharatpur Metropolitan Cities that are in want of quality improvement.
Likewise, it’s also said that mobile service providers’ service quality is subpar on Prithvi Highway, Mugling-Narayangarh, and Bharatpur-Kakarbhitta section which falls on the Mahendra Highway. Various Nta drive tests have shown telcos’ service to be below desirable. Previous tests have shown that even inside Kathmandu, voice and data services were below par.
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NTA issues warning on telcos to improve mobile service in cities and highways or face penalty
As part of its action, the regulator has told telecom companies to test the voice and data service quality as per the standard operating procedure for QoS management through drive test in accordance with rule no. 7 of the Bylaw Regarding the Telecommunication Service Quality 2079. The companies are given 45 45-day period to submit their report adhering to the prevailing criteria.
Nepali mobile subscribers can register their complaints regarding mobile services to NTA. It’s the regulator and telcos operate under its direct supervision and have to comply with the prevailing regulations while also maintaining optimum service levels. Also, NTA regularly conducts drive tests to check up on the telcos’ quality of services. These checkups offer in-depth insights into the state of service quality Nepal telecom companies are providing.
Mobile users can directly complain about the poor quality of service on the Nta website here.
Cellular service has got to improve
Despite all the progress, it is rather common to witness sluggish mobile performance in cities, especially in crowded areas where more are connected to their cellular company’s networks. It’s not too different on the highways too. In fact, there are long stretches of roads that are still deprived of mobile networks. Some deliver poor to no network leading to a series of annoying network disconnections and outages. On the other hand, there are no base stations that could provide network coverage on devices. Because of this, travelers on the highways suffer from connectivity or the lack of it.
It results in people not being able to place calls or use 4G LTE data services. As a result, passengers go without connectivity for a long duration on the bus on the highways. It’s a problem many share in Nepal in certain areas on the road while on long trips across the hills and southern plains. Don’t miss: The State of 4G Speed in Nepal and its Influencing Factors
NTA says that it is stepping up efforts to ensure better mobile quality of service and is mulling new rules to deliver concrete results. Let’s hope that the new plans come to fruition very soon. It’s also one of the challenges for the new NTA chairman Bhupendra Bhandari to ensure better cellular service for subscribers.
By the way, how do you rate the mobile service quality in your area? Do share with us in the comments below.
