Nepal telcos told to adopt 10-second billing next week
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Nepal’s mobile operators will need to implement 10-second billing from next week and per-second billing from October under a new regulatory directive.
The Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA) has instructed operators to reduce billing durations for domestic calls from the current 20 seconds to 10 seconds from April 14.
The reduction to per-second billing will subsequently need to be implemented from October 18 to coincide with the Nepali new year.
The minimum billing unit for landline calls has meanwhile been fixed at 60 seconds. International calls will be reduced to 30 second billing from the April date and to 10 seconds from October.
According to the report, the NTA implemented the reductions following consultations with the industry, but the regulator still plans to conduct checks to make sure the nation’s six operators follow the directive.
The directive will need to be implemented by Nepal Telecom, Ncell, UTL, Smart Telecom, Nepal Satellite Telecom and STM Telecom.
Questions & Answers
Q.Which operators are affected by the new billing directive?
Which operators are affected by the new billing directive?
The directive applies to Nepal Telecom, Ncell, UTL, Smart Telecom, Nepal Satellite Telecom and STM Telecom. These are the six operators that will need to implement the changes.
Q.What is the new minimum billing unit for landline calls?
What is the new minimum billing unit for landline calls?
The new directive fixes the minimum billing unit for landline calls at 60 seconds. This is a separate change from the mobile and international call reductions.
Q.When do international calls switch to 10-second billing?
When do international calls switch to 10-second billing?
International calls will be reduced to 30-second billing from April 14. They will then move to 10-second billing from October 18, aligning with the Nepali new year.
Q.Have operators had input on these changes?
Have operators had input on these changes?
The NTA implemented the reductions following consultations with the industry. However, the regulator still plans to conduct checks to ensure compliance from all operators.
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