Nepal Telecom reduces Internet tariff by 83%

Nepal Telecom reduces Internet tariff by 83%
eKantipur.com
Jan 10, 2006

Nepal Telecom (NT), the state-owned telecom giant, has reduced the tariff rates of Internet service, for business purposes, by as much as 83 percent.

Talking to the Post, Som Nath Bhattarai, chief of computer division of NT, said that the price of 64 kbps-lease-line Internet service has come down to Rs 5,000 per month from the previous Rs 18,000. While tariff rate of 128kbps-ISDN Internet service has come down to Rs 3,000 per month from Rs 13,600 of earlier.

“The new prices will come into effect from today,” Bhattarai said, adding - “The price reduction will benefit customers and companies that require high-speed as well as constant and reliable connection.”

According to Bhattarai, both the services are unlimited and dedicated, meaning that customers will be able to avail the service 24 hours a day without any fluctuation in speed.

The announcement to reduce the tariff rates comes five days after the state-owned telecom started procuring bandwidth from BSNL - an Indian telecom company - using the information superhighway.

This was the first time the country had used the optical fiber network, laid along East-West highway, for cross-country data transfer. Internet Service Providers (ISPs), until now, have been resorting to satellites, a much more expensive means, to purchase bandwidth from international vendors.

In the first phase, the state owned telecom had purchased 16Mbps of bandwidth at a cost of Rs 16 million - “four times cheaper than that being paid by other ISPs”.

“If we are able to procure more bandwidth using the optical fiber network, we will certainly reduce the tariff rates of Internet services meant for home users,” Bhattarai said.