Telecom service providers vie for the biggest slice of the pie

Telecommunication service providers, due to increasing competition, are upgrading their services.
Nepal Telecom (NT), Spice Nepal Pvt Ltd (SNPL) and United Telecom Ltd (UTL) -- the three major telecom service providers -- are constantly upgrading their services to capture the market.They are engaged in bringing latest and most advanced technologies in the market. One of these is Caller Ring Back Tone (CRBT) service that all the three service providers have.
Nepal Telecom (NT) started its Caller Ring Back Tone (CRBT) services in Lumbini, Dhaulagiri, and Gandaki zone from Ashad 1 and now it is available in Bheri Zone too. According to NT spokesperson Surendra Bahadur Thike, the company is also planning to extend CRBT service to Birgunj within two months. Previously, NT's CRBT service was available within Kathmandu Valley only.
SNPL -- the provider of Mero Mobile -- started Personalised Ring Back Tone (PRBT) in 2006 and it is available in all regions with Mero Mobile services. UTL started its CRBT service this Baishak (April 16), and is providing service in Banepa, Nepalgunj, Bhairahawa, Biratnagar, Narayanghat, Hetauda, Dharan and Birgunj.
With CRBT, customers of NT, Mero Mobile and UTL can download songs, music and video clips.
CRBT is an intermittent audible indication that a dialled telephone number is ringing. A ring back tone is a status indicator that the dialled number is available and that all connections through the appropriate network or networks between the originating and destination devices are either available or will be, and also that the call can be connected if someone answers the call.
The ring back tone generally starts and stops at the same rate as the ringing tone of the called telephone, but generally is out of phase, i.e., staggered in time. Personalized ring back tones recently have become popular, especially in cell phones.
Dozens of music genres and hundreds of selections are commonly available for both the ring back tone and the ringing tone.
The service generally is on a subscription basis and carries an additional charge per tone selected.According to NT, except the charges of SMS and Interactive Voice Response (IVR) the charge per CRBT will be Rs 10 while Mero Mobile charges Rs 10 per song excluding taxes and monthly charge of Rs 30 for its PRBT service, said Mero Mobile senior brand manager Sanat Sharma.Through PRBT service customers can assign different ringtones for different people and for different times, Sharma added.
It is now four months that UTL has started its CRBT service in which the charge per song is Rs 12.43 per CRBT, a monthly charge of Rs 37.29 and song selection charge per minute Rs 3.73.
Wooing the elderly
Nepal Telecom has started its new scheme for senior citizens since July 12. Under this scheme, senior citizens aged 60 or above can get an NT pre-paid SIM card for Rs 650 with a free talk time of Rs 500. The normal charge of NT SIM is Rs 1135. According to Thike, the scheme is for senior citizens and physically challenged people. Requirements are citizenship certificate with passport size photo or a government valid document mentioning exact age of the senior citizen wanting to get the NT SIM. The scheme is valid for a limited period and is available in Kathmandu and Biratnagar.
Note:(NT means Nepal Telecom)

Mero Mobile dealers protest

Mero Mobile Dealers' Association (MMDA) has started its second phase of protest against Spice Nepal Pvt Ltd (SNPL) of the popular Mero Mobile brand saying that the company's decision to replace C M Trading as a dealer has not been implemented yet.

"Although Spice's executive members have agreed to replace C M Trading after our first phase of protest, we have still not been given the authority of the dealership by the company," said MMDA president Amar Sapkota.
He added that they are staging sit-ins in the second phase.
"The protest may turn more serious if the company does not fulfil our demands," he added.

MMDA is protesting since July 12 against the decision to appoint C M Trading as Mero Mobile dealer.

Sapkota said MMDA has promoted Mero Mobile for a long time and it's very unfair to them if the company appoints another dealer.
MMDA has demanded Spice take back the decision at the earliest. As a part of their protest, dealers in all the 14 districts have decided not to purchase any accessories of Mero Mobile.

Meanwhile, a meeting of executive members of the company and Mero's national distributors was held.

"It is a wait-andwatch situation for us because apart from us, at least 60 other members of the association were not included in the meeting today," said MMDA vice-president Shyam Gupta.

UTL upgrades cell number to 10-digit

United Telecom Ltd (UTL) has increased its seven-digit number to 10-digit from today.
The new format of 10digit starting with 97 is followed by 2 -- the operator code for UTL -- and area code with one digit code for Kathmandu and two digits out side the valley for limited mobility service of UTL's prepaid and post paid mobile phones was allocated one-and-a-half year ago.

"The 10-digit number requirement for UTL mobile service that was allocated long ago is being implemented," said Ananda Raj Khanal, director of Nepal Telecommunication Authority (NTA).

"Along with the 10-digit number UTL can accommodate more subscribers in its network, Khanal said adding that UTL network can increase its number of subscriber as it can accommodate more with 10-digit number.

Meanwhile, Madan Singh, general manager at the UTL said that with the new 10-digit number UTL would be more competitive. UTL has at present about 1.55 lakh users.

Along with 10-digit number, UTL has also started its Short Message Service (SMS) service with Nepal Telecom (NT), and Spice Nepal Pvt Ltd (SNPL) -- the provider of Mero Mobile.

"Itsbeen 15 days since we have started SMS ser vices with other service providers," Singh informed adding that UTL already had the facility to send SMS but it was not implement ed. "Now UTL users can send SMS to NT and Mero Mobile holders.