Kathmandu. Minister for Information and Communications Dr. Bikram Timilsina has sought information from the Nepal Telecommunication Authority on the quality of telecommunication service.

Minister for Communications and Information Technology Dr. Timilsina today took information from the officials of Nepal Telecommunication Authority (NTA) about the condition of service, quality evaluation, regulation and expansion of service, saying the complaints of consumers about the poor quality of telephone and internet service have not subsided.

Minister for Communications and Information Technology Dr Timilsina also directed the government to submit a regular report on quality monitoring to the Ministry.

During a discussion attended by the Secretary at the Ministry of Information and Communications, Rajendra Kumar Poudel, Chairman of Nepal Telecommunication Authority Arjun Ghimire and other officials of the Ministry and NEA today, Minister for Communications and Information Technology Dr Timilsina said that consumers have the perception that the quality of telecommunications service is deteriorating and the poor telephone and internet service is a serious issue even in a region like Kathmandu Valley.

He said that both the regulatory body and the service provider should be responsible to provide reliable, quality and easy telecommunication service as expected by the citizens.

“The complaints about the lack of access and quality of telecommunication services have not gone away yet. It has to be improved in any way. There is no alternative to working to meet the aspirations of the citizens,” he said.

On the occasion, Minister for Communications and Information Technology Dr Timilsina pledged to provide necessary support from the ministry to enhance the regulatory capacity of the NTA.

Directing the bodies concerned to guarantee citizen’s right to quality telephone and internet service, he said stern action should be taken against the service providers providing sub-standard service and not meeting the set standard.

“There is no regular monitoring and inspection by the authority to check the quality of telephone service. You should fulfill your regulatory obligations and take ruthless action on the issue of quality,” said Minister for Communications and Information Technology Dr. Timilsina to the authority.

He directed to make adequate arrangements for the necessary mechanisms and equipment for quality testing and to conduct regular monitoring and provide its report to the ministry. He also said that the regulatory body should identify the state of the service and take immediate steps to improve it, rather than reacting only when the problem arises. He also said that the authority should move forward with a clear action plan regarding the expansion of 4G service and the launch of 5G services. He said that the necessary preparations and regulatory process should be taken forward with a clear action plan for expanding the reach of 4G services, improving the quality of existing services and implementing 5G technology.

In the meeting, NTA officials briefed Minister Timilsina about the problems and challenges surfaced in the quality assessment and monitoring of telecommunications service.

According to the authority, the vehicles and drive test equipment required for quality testing are not sufficient. It was informed that there is a problem in quality testing and monitoring due to the lack of necessary capacity and equipment to test the quality of telecommunication services and some of the previous processes of equipment procurement have been embroiled in legal disputes.

The authority has admitted that although it has issued the standards related to the quality of telecommunication service, it has not been implemented effectively. According to the existing system, the service provider has to conduct a drive test and submit a quality report to the authority every three months. The authority has also said that if the service quality is found to be low, the concerned service provider is alerted. The authority said that the service provider should have made additional investment in infrastructure to improve the quality of service, but there has not been enough investment.

Likewise, NEA officials said that it would help improve the quality of service if the required frequency could be made available in the telecommunication service adequately.

NEA said that despite the increasing demand for services, quality problems have been seen in some areas due to lack of investment in infrastructure and network capacity.

During today’s discussion, Chairman of Nepal Telecommunication Authority Arjun Ghimire said that the Authority is regularly monitoring and inspecting the quality of telecommunication services across the country. He said that necessary action will be taken against the service providers who do not meet the minimum quality standards as per the rights given by the law.

“We have already warned the service providers about the poor quality of telephone service. Now, we will take action and fine as per the law,” said Ghimire. He pledged to make regular monitoring of the quality of telephone and internet service more effective.