Interconnection Regime in Nepal Nepal Telecommunications Authority

Regulatory Regime Nepal Telecommunications Authority was established in 1998 as an autonomous regulatory body, to manage & regularize telecommunications services pursuant to the Telecommunications Act, 1997. Separate Telecommunications Policy was formulated in 1999 in line with the National Communications Policy ,1992. In order to benefit the Nepalese people from the dynamic technological changes around the World in telecom sector New Telecommunications Policy was formulated in 2004.

Telecom Statistics at a glance (as of Chaitra, 2066, 14 April, 2010) Particulars No.of lines Tele-density Fixed line PSTN and wireless 826,071 2.95% Mobile GSM and CDMA 6,828,468 24.35% Others(LM,GMPCS,WCDMA) 336,475 1.20% Total 7,991,014 28.50% (

Data /internet services in Nepal (as of Chaitra, 2066, 14 April, 2010) No. of line. Dailup (PSTN +ISDN) 28,863 Wireless Modem, Optical Fibre Ethernet 13,000 Cable Modem, Cable etc. 32,500 ADSL 33,780 GPRS 749,929 CDMA 1X 85,160 Total 943,232

List of Licensees (as of 14 April, 2010) The number of licenses issued by the NTA is as follows: Basic Telecommunications 3 Cellular Mobile 2 Network service provider 9 VSAT user 111 Internet (including e-mail) 42 International Trunk telephone 2 GMPCS 3 Rural telecom Service 2 Limited Mobility 41 Rural VSAT user 8 Rural internet service provider 5

Interconnection development Interconnection Guidelines (IG) …………. 1st IG. Based on retail tariff structure of incumbent operator rather than cost based. Interconnection Guideline effective from May, 2008 Replaced the first IG Based on LRIC+ model to cover the sunk costs, especially cost incurred for those infrastructures built in rural areas. Does not cover NGN. Two options for entering into Interconnection Agreement (IA) Negotiating and establishing in good faith, with another licensee Enter into an IA with another licensee by accepting another licensee's RIO. Obligation to all operators to interconnect each other. Interconnection usage charge is fixed by the NTA and operators may fix there own mutually agreed IUC but not exceeding rate fixed by the NTA.

Interconnection Usage Charge IUC on international calls is as follows. Incoming calls: International termination up to Point of interconnection (for circuit switch only) NRs 1.80 per minutes. Outgoing Calls: The international gateway operator will receive 75% of the retail tariff. New interconnection guideline does not address the IUC for VOIP service as well as other IP based services.

Tariff to call SATRC countries Amount in USD per minutes Countries Nepal Telecom United Telecom Ncell STM Telecom Nepal Satellite Smart Telecom India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri lanka 0.16 0.08 to 0.20 0.07 to 0.25 0.20 Maldives, Bhutan 0.20 to 0.25 0.22 0.24 Afghanistan 0.32 0.25 to 0.27 0.35 0.40 Except SATRC most of the countries 0.09 to 0.20 0.27 to 0.63 0.39 0.48