What was the purpose of your visit?I had visited Nepal seven times in the last 14 months. I was here two weeks after the major earthquake to be with the staff and the management to learn about their problems. But this time I am here to meet customers in the affected areas, meet business community and talk to the government how TeliaSonera and Ncell can help in rebuilding Nepal. I believe that seeing with own eyes and feeling the pain of the customers is very important rather than staying far away and getting the updates.
Ncell coordinated a workshop on Mobile Industry Disaster Preparedness about a week before the earthquake. How prepared was Ncell to provide service during the time of disaster?
We took part in the workshop and learned many aspects of disaster management. Our employees are trained to work at the time of disaster and we were well-prepared. Due to this, we were able to keep the network and infrastructures up and running soon after the earthquake.
You said Ncell was well-prepared. But people in highly affected areas still do not have access to Ncell's network. Why?
At present, 96 percent of our BTS is up and running. We are working to bring all our BTS into operation very soon. Our staff members have been traveling to various places to repair the damaged system. We were in Chautara and Sunkhani recently and we were able to provide 3G services for customers there who were using only 2G services after the quake.
What did you find when you visited the affected areas? What is your plan for the people in affected areas?
I could feel their pain. When our team interacted with people, they were demanding free SMS service and they wanted 3G service back. We were not able to provide 3G services there because our BTS was damaged. However, 3G service is working there since Tuesday. We are working hard to ensure that all our customers get the best service. But due to hassles in import of equipment, we could not provide the service as early as we wanted.
We will do what we can to help the affected people. TeliaSonera and Ncell have committed to contribute more than Rs 1 billion for the rehabilitation and reconstruction works in earthquake affected districts.
How will the money be used?
We will use the fund for reconstruction of infrastructures like health facilities and schools. It could be other areas also. But whichever area we choose, we will have long-term dedication. We will definitely have open dialogue to finalize the area and work directly with the local people.
Many organizations are hesitant to provide fund to the government citing transparency and accountability issues. But TeliaSonera and Ncell have committed to provide fund to the government. What is your view on this?
We contributed Rs 102 million to Prime Minister Disaster Relief Fund on Tuesday. The government must have high transparency not only to us (contributors) but also to the local citizens of Nepal. It will be up to the government to secure that these funds are used at its best. We believe that we are doing right thing by giving the fund to the government.
What is your major learning from the disaster here?
We realized that we need to have sufficient mobile generators so that we can use them in places where power supplies are cut off after disaster. It is the same for other countries. We will improve everything so that we can ensure all our networks are up and running during disasters.
What would be your focus in the coming days to ensure that customers are not deprived of communication services for long?
We are investing to build earthquake resilient data centers in Kathmandu very soon. We will improve our weaknesses in the areas we need to and do our best to ensure that the communication system is up and running all the time.
TeliaSonera has been bringing new technology to countries where it is present very fast. But in Nepal, it has been introducing the new technology rather late. Why is that so?
We are always ready to introduce the latest technology as soon as it is introduced. The problem is with the licenses and frequency allocation. The regulator must provide approvals for equipment and the technologies faster.
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