Smart Telecom's explanation unsatisfactory: Regulator
KATHMANDU:
Smart Telecom has failed to come up with a convincing explanation regarding delay in its service expansion under unified licence. The statement it presented to Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA) simply states it has built 400-plus mobile towers so far for network expansion.
Irate with slow progress of Smart Telecom after it was granted the licence two years ago, the authority on March 24 had given the telecom 15 days to present its progress report and service roll-out plan. As per the company’s old plan, it was supposed to have soft launched GSM mobile service in Kathmandu around 15 months ago.
Today, NTA officials said that they went through the report submitted by Smart Telecom but there was no information on service expanded and plans for coming years. “There is no satisfactory report from the company on what it is doing,” said Achyuta Nanda Mishra, assistant spokesperson for NTA.
The company has just stated that it is working over the network expansion plan based on unified licence and has built over 400 towers, according to Mishra. It was issued the licence in April 2013, which allowed it to take multiple telecom services, including mobile service, nationwide to give additional choices to customers.
According to NTA statistics, in mid-April 2013 when Smart Telecom was granted the permission of the unified licence, it had 646,169 subscribers base in limited mobility service. By mid-January this year, the number of users had increased to 1.28 million. The company had entered the telecom market in 2008 as a rural telecom service provider.
NTA board is likely to discuss about the issue of Smart Telecom’s unsatisfactory response in its meeting tomorrow and decide on further action. NTA officials said that the company is said to have been taking more time in market expansion owing to prolonged internal dispute over share ownership among investors and requirement of huge investment.
Lal Sahu Distribution of Singapore has 70 per cent stake in Smart Telecom with Nepali company Square Network owning 20 per cent and Israeli-based Gilat Network owning the rest. Earlier, the company had also talked of roping in a strategic partner as the nationwide service expansion and licence renewal fee required bigger investment. Companies acquiring the unified licence have to pay Rs 20.13 billion over a 10-year period after getting the licence.
Amid failure to move effectively in the market, another company United Telecom Ltd (UTL) had also been given additional 60 days of time two weeks ago to collect the unified licence. NTA had decided to grant the licence to both Smart Telecom and UTL on the same date. Even as Smart Telecom took the permit immediately after the decision, it has not been able to expand its market as expected, while UTL is hesitant to collect its reserved licence amid losses.
Source: THT
