Communication and technology has advanced so much that cell phones have become an essential part of our lives. We use cell phones and its services like anything. From the wake up alarm to calculating future forecast-zodiac signs everything is possible with in a press of a button. One thing I’m really amazed of is in this tussle of service and marketing options things have changed but there is no relief to the public. The prices of services have gone up and quality options are there but the clients are bound to suffer in number of ways.
1. You cannot leave your previous number
2. You have to pay extra money
3. You have to face bad services
4. Your complain goes unheard
5. You have to carry more mobile phones
“Reality of today if there is service there is no network and if there is network there is no service,” so where is the STANDARD?
Now getting down to a more practical approach a cell number is not just a number. It’s an identity or it’s who you are? No-matter how easily you may say if you need service then opt for the quality one, then what’s the big fuss, where is standardization?
In-fact the customers are burdened to carry two lines NTC as well as Ncell. As they cannot leave the NTC as it’s their older number and Ncell coz it’s quality. I have seen number of people who carry two phones why because it’s not a choice but it’s a compulsion.
I was shocked and amazed when I saw an advertising saying 1.75 per minutes to US using the 1424 by NTC that’s like super cool. I was so tempted by the advertisement that I even used it number of times and to my satisfaction the service was good. But somewhere in my mind I started to compare it with the existing plans and services that are available. You know calling US was cheaper than calling Nepal than what’s the use? Where is our telecommunication industry moving, the service of calling Kathmandu to Kathmandu is bad and the outbound calls are cheap and good. What a joke…….?
Likewise, another issue is these days private telecommunication companies are more focused towards easy distribution of their connection or expanding their network which to some extent is correct from their point of view but what about the quality and standard, do any of these companies follow any norms. They rarely care about any other thing. They work as money making machine where they focus on loud offers and marketing option which in return comes back to us in the form of higher tariff rates so where the government regulator body and what is it doing…?
One thing I could not understand is why aren’t we getting proper service? The infrastructure is there, the mechanism is there, then where do we lack and what should the public expect…
For instance Ncell has the best quality service but once you make a call the money flows like anything where as if you look at the NTC then they have the cheapest service but relatively the quality is down.
Last time I was using my Ncell calling on the same line for about 2 -3 minutes and walla Nrs 8 gone. I cared less but what about the tariff rates and what is happening around? Hello Ncell to ncell is that expensive god save me. Relatively quality matters but hey in a long run money matters as well. It’s the same company that marketed Ncell to ncell free during its beginning days.
I bet the standardization in telecommunication is a big issue that has been ignored in Nepal, the Nepal Telecommunication Authority (NTA) the regulatory body of government has been monitoring and controlling the mechanism in a more upper hand way where they manage the bandwidth and bandwidth line but they care less at the public service sector. STANDARIZATION is a more prominent issue that starts from the point of the service generation to the point of its use and impact, but I guess the NTA fails to realize this. At public service level they hold no presence and quality has been subsidized that’s manipulated by companies in their respected ways.
“We need services but with standardization is our demand”
Source: http://shreedeeprayamajhi.blogspot.com/2012/08/telecommunication-industry-in-nepal.html
