NT slashes budget-call tariff for six countries

KATHMANDU, June 29: Nepal Telecom (NT) has reduced its tariff for budget calls to six countries in a bid to retain its shrinking revenue from international calls.



Calls to India, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Baharain will cost up to 40 percent less now. Joint-spokesperson at NT Dinesh Dev Pant said that the new tariff will be effective from Friday and can be availed via access code 1424. NT is offering cheaper call rates through access codes 1424 and 1425 for most countries.[break]



After the reduced tariff, subscribers of NT can make calls to India at Rs 2.90 a minute exclusive of applicable taxes. The existing tariff for India under budget call at present is Rs 4 a minute. Now onwards, calls to Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Baharain can be made at Rs 12 a minute. The cost is exclusive of taxes and the existing tariff to these destinations is Rs 20 a minute. These destinations have comparatively high density of migrant Nepali workers.



NT officials hope that the reduced tariff will help retain its loss last year. The state-owned telecom operator had seen its revenue eroding up to 50 percent in 2009/10 compared to a year ago. NT´s earning from international calls had dropped to Rs 420 million in 2009/10 against Rs 814 million in 2008-2009. NT officials hope that the reduced tariff will attract larger volume of calls. "The revised tariff is really competitive and we are positive about a rise in the revenue," Pant said.



The reduced tariff of the private telecom operators is forcing the state-owned operator to cut down the exiting tariff. The competition is clearly visible in countries where the number of Nepali migrant workers is higher.



Lately, the competition among operators has brought down the tariff for India to less than Rs 3 a minute. India is a lucrative market for telecom operators offering international calls as the largest chunk of Nepali community living abroad is residing in India.



UTL offer call to India at Rs 3 a minute which was Rs 4 a minute before. Similarly, Ncell subscribers can make call to India at Rs 2.99 a minute. Previously, Ncell was charging Rs 6 a minute for calls to India.



Revenue from international calls is one of the major earnings of all the telecom operators. However, operators have started focusing on domestic market after a drastic fall in the revenue from international calls following easy Internet access.



Operators hope that reduced tariff will not simply benefit the customers but also play a key role in minimizing illegal VoIP calls.

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