NT service quality upgradation: China ZTE Corp quotes Rs 250m for six month contract
KATHMANDU, OCT 02 -
Chinese telecom equipment vendor ZTE Corporation has given Nepal Telecom ( NT ) an asking price of Rs 250 million to improve its quality of service (QoS). The state-owned telecom giant has been negotiating with the Chinese company to sign a six-month contract to enhance network performance and service quality.
NT is preparing to hire ZTE as “managed service” provider for network optimisation work. ZTE will provide the spare parts necessary to optimise NT ’s network and thus improve its QoS. As per the existing practice, NT ’s own technical people work to optimise the network.
A sub-committee under the coordination of joint secretary at the Finance Ministry and NT board member Baikuntha Aryal has been talking with ZTE regarding the contract cost and network optimisation to be carried out. NT officials said that a joint technical team of NT and ZTE had been working on deciding the replacement spare parts and their cost.
“Since the price quoted by ZTE is high, the sub-committee has asked it to present a cost breakdown,” said a senior NT official. He added that ZTE had asked for Rs 250 million when it had quoted Rs 170 million for the same kind of work last year.
Considering mounting criticism of the QoS, NT had thought of hiring ZTE last year to improve the quality. However, the plan fell through due to objections
from within the company. NT seems to be serious about improving the QoS this time as it has been holding talks with the Chinese company.
Most NT network sites have installed ZTE-made equipment. That is the major reason behind NT approaching ZTE for network optimisation, according to a NT board member. The sub-committee will finalise the decision with ZTE and recommend the type of action to be taken.
According to the terms of reference, the sub-committee was supposed to submit its report to the NT board last week. The board member said that they had been negotiating with ZTE regarding the cost of spare parts for mobile towers and staff training. “Since China will be observing National Day holidays from Oct 1-7, the negotiations will likely be delayed as ZTE officials have to consult with their head office,” the board member added.
Source: The Kathmandu Post
