Mobile charges go down in Nepal
Tuesday, 18 September 2007
KATHMANDU, Sept 17 (Xinhua): Nepal's state-run Nepal Telecommunication (NT) announced Monday that the distant charge and domestic roaming charge for GSM and CDMA phones will be waived starting from Tuesday.
The move is in tune with a cabinet's decision taken last month.
The existing charge for calls made from GSM post- paid mobile to GSM/CDMA mobile to other districts, except Saturdays, will now be removed and a countrywide ATC (Air Time Charge) of 3 Nepali rupees (0.046 US dollars) per minute during peak hour (8 a.m. to 8 p.m.) and 1.50 rupees (0.023 dollars) per minute during off-peak hours will be introduced.
Likewise from the pre-paid mobiles, 3.50 rupees (0.053 dollars) and 2.50 rupees (0.038 dollars) will be charged respectively.
The charge for GSM post-paid lines Saturdays too will be done away with and the ATC of 1.50 rupees will be charged.
A press release issued by the NT said that the changes are a step towards making telecommunication service more practical and affordable. It also said that the changes have been introduced in line with the rising demand of the GSM and CDMA lines.
"This is the first step towards making NT's service more affordable and transparent. But we still have to undertake financial and technical analysis to reach out to more people," Sugat Ratna Kansakar, Managing Director of NT, said in the release.
The NT has extended the GSM coverage to 43 districts and the CDMA coverage to 70 districts out of 75 districts in the country. By mid-August this year, the number of GSM users reached 972,588 and that of CDMA was 78,856, according to the release.
The move is in tune with a cabinet's decision taken last month.
The existing charge for calls made from GSM post- paid mobile to GSM/CDMA mobile to other districts, except Saturdays, will now be removed and a countrywide ATC (Air Time Charge) of 3 Nepali rupees (0.046 US dollars) per minute during peak hour (8 a.m. to 8 p.m.) and 1.50 rupees (0.023 dollars) per minute during off-peak hours will be introduced.
Likewise from the pre-paid mobiles, 3.50 rupees (0.053 dollars) and 2.50 rupees (0.038 dollars) will be charged respectively.
The charge for GSM post-paid lines Saturdays too will be done away with and the ATC of 1.50 rupees will be charged.
A press release issued by the NT said that the changes are a step towards making telecommunication service more practical and affordable. It also said that the changes have been introduced in line with the rising demand of the GSM and CDMA lines.
"This is the first step towards making NT's service more affordable and transparent. But we still have to undertake financial and technical analysis to reach out to more people," Sugat Ratna Kansakar, Managing Director of NT, said in the release.
The NT has extended the GSM coverage to 43 districts and the CDMA coverage to 70 districts out of 75 districts in the country. By mid-August this year, the number of GSM users reached 972,588 and that of CDMA was 78,856, according to the release.