Nepal Orders Operators to Lower Interconnection Fees

Nepal's telecoms regulator, the NTA has ordered the country's four telecoms operators to lower their interconnection charges to between 14-90 paisa, from the existing 60-252 paisa, by the middle of February.

The NTA said that the operators had ignored an earlier request to lower the charges, so it was making the reduction mandatory.

Chairman of the NTA Bhesh Raj Kandel told the local media, "We are now going to make sure the telecom companies implement it,"

The NTA has fixed the mobile-to-mobile interconnection charge at 54 paisa regardless of whether the connection is local or long distance, while landline interconnection charges will vary depending on the type of call made.

"Although we had directed the service providers to reduce the interconnection charge on May 1, 2008, they have been ignoring the instruction for nine months," said Kailash Prasad Neupane, NTA spokesperson.

According to the Mobile World subscriber tracker, the country ended last September with just under an estimated four million mobile phone users - representing a population penetration level of 13.5%.

Posted to the site on 11th January 2009