NTA mulls action against 30 ISPs

KATHMANDU, July 12: Nepal Telecommunication Authority (NTA) is preparing to take action against 30 Internet Service Providers (ISPs) after they defied the telecom sector regulators´ repeated calls to furnish their detailed report.



NTA among others had asked the ISPs to provide it the total number of subscribers, areas where the services have been expanded and the type of services they are providing. NTA can slap penalty or go to the extent of scrapping the operating license if ISPs failed to comply with its directions.[break]



NTA Spokesperson Kailash Prasad Neupane said only 18 out of 48 ISPs had responded to its call. “We´ve repeatedly requested the ISPs to furnish their detailed reports. Only about one-third of the service providers have complied with our directives,” said Neupane.



NTA has been failing to numerate the actual number of Internet subscribers in the country due to the ISPs´ reluctance. The telecom sector regulator publishes Management Information System (MIS) report every month. The report includes among others the total subscribers of voice telephony and data service.



NTA officials suspect that ISPs are not providing data because they fear that they might lose subscribers if they make public their actual subscribers base. “There are high chances that new subscriber would take the service of ISPs with bigger subscribers base,” the official added.



According to the latest MIS report of NTA, Internet penetration in the country stands at 10.03 percent. Out of 2.86 million Internet users in the country, about 2.58 million browse internet through GPRS service.

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