NT's revenue from int'l calls continues to decline

KATHMANDU, April 15: Continuous drop in international call tariff and increasing use of Internet telephone have caused the revenue of Nepal Telecom (NT) from international calls to decline by around 20 percent in fiscal year 2010/11 compared to a year ago.



NT´s revenue from international calls had started declining since fiscal year 2009/10, when it recorded a drop in revenue by 50 percent compared to a year ago.[break]



According to latest data of the state-controlled telecommunications service provider, NT earned total revenue of Rs 353.62 million in the last fiscal year, down from Rs 420 million earned in fiscal year 2009/10.



NT recorded revenue loss in international calls made from both PSTN and CDMA services. It earned around Rs 250 million from international calls in PSTN service in last fiscal year, down from Rs 325.55 million a year ago. Similarly, the earnings from international calls in CDMA service declined from Rs 18.29 million of fiscal year 2009/10 to Rs 12.98 million in 2010/11.



However, revenue from international calls made from GSM service has increased by Rs 15 million. NT earned Rs 91 million from international calls made from GSM service in the last fiscal year.



Surendra Prasad Thike, spokesperson of NT, said increasing competition amongst operators and increasing use of Internet for voice telephony were the major reasons behind decline in revenue from international calls. “Operators have reduced tariff for international call due to stiff competition in the market. But traffic volume hasn´t increased proportionately,” added Thike.



Internet service providers (ISPs) in the country are offering cheap calls via Internet. Because of this, direct telephone line to other alternatives, according to Thike.



“The number of international calls from telephone lines is declining also due to increasing use of Skype, GoogleTalk and online chat for conversation,” said Thike.



According to NT officials, operators in other countries are also seeing drop in revenue from international calls because alternative form of communications were offering calls at cheaper rates.



Despite drop in revenue from international calls, NT´s earning from data services, particularly in GPRS and ADSL, has increased. This helped the state-controlled operator to earn total revenue of Rs 26.40 billion in 2010/11, up from Rs 25.05 billion recorded in 2009/10.

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