Nepal Telecom ‘cleared’ to proceed its billing system price bid to Huawei

Nepal Telecom (NTC) will proceed with its new real-time convergent billing system as the investigation committee submits its report to the Communication Minister Jagdish Kharel. The investigation had initially cast a shadow over the installation of the new billing system. However, it seems things have been cleared for the company.

Minister Kharel stated that the committee was for internal proceedings, and NT can go ahead with its plan for the new billing system. He made it clear that there won’t be any roadblocks for the telecom giant for its new billing system bidding and installation process.

“The report doesn’t hinder billing system procurement. The company can make decisions within the premises of its rules and laws,” the minister said.

The coordinator of the investigation committee, Maniram Gelal, clarified that this study report will not affect the evaluation of the confidential bids in the billing system procurement process of Nepal Telecom.

“Through the report, we have also given some suggestions regarding the privacy and security of personal details of service recipients to help Nepal Telecom establish itself in the competitive market,” he said.

Also: Nepal Telecom Fiber Internet: Price, Speed, Offer, Packs in 2025

The price bid for the billing system could reopen

At the moment, NT has held up its billing system price bid opening indefinitely. The due date to open the financial bid was today (Ashoj 08). It was already postponed due to the recent Gen Z protest, which had Huawei as the only selected bidder after the evaluation.

NT issued a public notice relating to the postponement of the financial bid opening. It said that the planned process won’t happen until further notice.

In Chaitra 2081, NTC opened a bid for a convergent real-time billing system. Two Chinese firms, Huawei Technologies and Whale Cloud, submitted their bid. The company selected the former following its technical evaluation.

Why did Nepal Telecom postpone its price bid for billing?

The Gen Z protest and the change in government might have caused the postponement of the price bid opening for Nepal Telecom’s Convergent Real Time Billing (CRTB) and Customer Support (CS).

On Bhadra 15, Huawei was declared eligible for the price bid after passing through its technical evaluation. Therefore, NTC scheduled Huawei’s price bid opening of the billing system for Bhadra 30. But it was postponed to Ashoj 8. The “controversial” selection of Huawei has now taken a hit with the latest postponement, likely a cancellation. There’s no date in mention for its bid opening, and there won’t be any process on it until the next notice.  

The act of awarding Huawei a contract has been criticized by some. Experts state that giving Huawei the billing system, which already maintains the company’s core mobile network, could put user data at risk. Nepal’s Supreme Court has said that no user data should go into anyone’s hands.

At present, Asia Info operates Nepal Telecom’s billing system. It’s considered dated and inadequate to handle the current workload and requirements. The customers have also faced issues with recharge and even calling because of the existing billing infrastructure. The recent VoLTE and 4G issue in Shrawan, 2082, also had to do with the ‘old’ billing system. These are the reasons why the company is seeking to implement a modern and more reliable billing technology – CRTB.

Ntc continues to see delays and issues with its planned CRTB billing system

NT’c plan for the new billing system has taken multiple delays and scrutiny. There’s already an investigation into possible corruption in billing, repair, and maintenance, with the former NT Managing Director, Sangita Pahadi.

The saga continues for NTC’s CRTB billing issue. Let’s wait and see how the development unfolds next. But one thing is clear: NT and customers both deserve a new, modern, reliable, and advanced billing system that can consistently work without any issues.