Kathmandu. Private Internet Service Providers (ISPs) have been continuously criticized on social media for shutting down cheap packages of less than 50 Mbps capacity and increasing tariffs. At this time, it seems that the customer’s attraction towards the 30 Mbps ‘NT Fiber’ offer of Rs 5,000 per year brought by Nepal Telecom has increased rapidly. Some customers who left the private company and went to the government telecom have raised questions about the quality of Nepal Telecom’s fiber internet and the delay in customer support.
Nepal Telecom has said that the demand for new line connection has increased up to three times compared to the previous one and due to the increase in the number of people applying for inquiries and connections, they had to arrange a hotline number and an online portal. Arjun Tamang from Nuwakot said that even though he tried to connect to Telecom’s internet on Dasain, when he called the customer care, he was called on number 161 and only after 16 minutes of ‘hold’ did he get an answer that he could talk.
Worldlink user Anup Thakuri also expressed his dissatisfaction on Facebook saying that he had to pay Rs 1,350 for the same package in October while he paid Rs 1,017 for the special BTL package of 50 Mbps. “No, how did the Worldlink Wi-Fi bill increase? Every month I used to pay 1,017 rupees, but now it has come to 1,350 rupees all at once,” he wrote, “Is it just me or is it the same for everyone?”
Consumers have objected on social networks like Facebook and X saying that private internet service providers have increased charges and stopped cheap packages without prior notice. Students and low-income users are in for a shock as affordable packages below 50 Mbps are suddenly discontinued. Nepal Telecom has introduced a new package at a concessional rate after the ISPs announced the closure of affordable packages. Looking for an alternative amid the dissatisfaction of the fee increase, some users seem to have turned to Nepal Telecom’s ‘NT Fiber’.
Due to dissatisfaction with private service providers and affordable festive offers from telecoms, the demand for NT fiber connections has increased exponentially. Currently, the connection demand of NT fiber has increased by three times compared to the previous year, said Prakshet Thapa Chhetri, Assistant Spokesperson of Nepal Telecom. According to Thapa, there were an average of 3,000 new connections per month in July and August, and that number increased to 6,000 in October.
Telecom said that the demand for NT fiber is coming from urban areas including Kathmandu where the population density is high. On the occasion of Dasain and Tihar, the company has released NT fiber package of 30 Mbps at Rs 4,999 per year. As the connection fee is also waived in this package, the attractiveness of the customers has increased. On October 23, Prime Minister Walendra Shah shared a poster of Nepal Telecom’s festival-targeted offer on his Facebook page.
“Due to the large number of followers and high popularity on social media, the Prime Minister himself has helped us a lot in marketing when the Prime Minister himself promoted the offer in this way,” said Thapa, Assistant Spokesperson of Telecom. This has directly contributed to increasing the demand and customer attraction of NT Fiber.
After Prime Minister Shah released the poster of Nepal Telecom, the regulator Nepal Telecommunication Authority fined 6 service providers including Telecom for operating services against the terms of the license. After Tekpana wrote the news about the package being announced without taking the approval of the regulator, Nepal Telecom issued a statement and mentioned that the authority had already been informed about the package that was brought as an offer.
Sanjay Mahato of Chitwan, Tandi also shared his experience of connecting Nepal Telecom’s fiber net for one year on October 31 after private internet companies increased the fees. However, he warned other customers that Nepal Telecom gives old single-band routers when adding a 30 Mbps package of Rs 5,000. “In the name of cheap, old single band routers that have been returned by customers are sent,” he commented, “When you connect a 50 Mbps network, you can get a new dual band router.” But when adding 30 Mbps, Telecom will give old single band routers returned by customers.
When asked about customer complaints, Nepal Telecom Assistant Spokesperson Thapa responded that there was no compromise on the quality of service. According to him, there is no compromise in the speed and quality of the internet as the network infrastructure capable of handling the customer pressure is already ready with Telecom. The company said that there has been a lot of pressure on the telecom hotline number 198 for new line connection and inquiries.
Some users have criticized the government by creating a ‘public group’ on Facebook saying that the government has remained silent even though the price of the Internet has increased dramatically during the time of the government built on the strength of social media. Admin Shankar Karki of Vianet Internet Users Group is constantly asking questions. “After the formation of the new government, not only the increase in Internet charges, competition has also stopped,” he wrote, “ISPs, who were giving various offers until a few years ago, have now increased their fees up to 50, 55, 60, 100 percent. The Balen Sarkar who posted in the NTC advertisement is not aware of this?
The umbrella organization of internet service providers ‘Internet Service Provider Association Nepal’ and representatives of various internet service provider companies were tried to get a response on this matter but could not be contacted, some did not want to respond. Ekantipur