Kathmandu, July 25
All three mobile phone
service providers in the country have failed to meet the standard call setup
time and setup success.
A recent study
conducted by the Nepal Telecommunication Authority (NTA) concluded that the
call set up time of Nepal Telecom (NT), Ncell and Smart Telecom (ST) is higher
than the threshold set by the telecom regulator in the country.
However, Ncell has almost
met the call connection time threshold of 5 seconds. Its connection time is
5.27 seconds against NT’s 9.34 seconds and ST’s 10.27 seconds.
‘Report on quality
test (Drive test) of mobile services’ in the Kathmandu Valley conducted from
March to June 2021 showed that call setup success rate is almost identical in
three service providers with NT, Ncell and ST having 90.51 per cent, 94.43 per
cent and 84.47 per cent respectively. This is lower than the NTA-set standard
of 99 per cent or more call setup success rate.
Likewise, NT network
has the highest call drop rate with 0.87 per cent against only 0.2 per cent of
Ncell and 0.45 per cent of ST. While Ncell performs best in this category all
three companies fare better in terms of the NTA threshold for call drop rate of
2 per cent or less.
The NTA had tested the
quality of telephone calls in mobile sets with 40 seconds call duration and the
calls were made locally within the service provider’s network.
It had applied drive
test method in which testing tools mounted on a moving vehicle collect key
performance indicators of the cellular network by repeatedly making voice or
data calls, according to the report.
“All the available
service providers at the location are tested simultaneously. The tools are configured
in a way so that a favourable network (4G/3G/2G) is selected for each service
provider automatically as per availability,” read the report.
However, the NTA said
that the results represent network conditions of the operators on the specific
places during the drive test period and conditions of the network in other
areas could differ.
Drive Test locations
in Kathmandu district were Kamaladi, Tripureshwor, Kalimati, Kalanki,
Kshetrapati, Bijeshwari, Swayambhu, Sitapaila, Chhauni, Chabhil, Gothatar, Kapan,
Mandikhatar, Golfutar, Chapali, Narayanthan, Gongabu, Gaushala, Sinamangal and
Shantinagar, Pepsikola and Narephant.
Likewise, the test was
conducted in Teku, Kupondole, Balkumari, Imadol, Gwarko and Tikathali of
Lalitpur, and Balkot and Kaushaltar in Bhaktapur. Main and access roads
connected to the Ring Road in the Valley were also included in the study.
Deputy Spokesperson of
the NTA Achyuta Nand Mishra said that the study will help in improving the
quality of mobile services in the Valley. Very soon, the telecom sector
regulator will issue directives to the companies to improve the quality of
telecom service. However, the time period for the reform would be set by the
NTA, said Mishra.
Till May 2021, the
three telecom companies have sold 38.47 million GSM SIM which is much higher
than the population of the country which is estimated at 30.4 million by
Sunday.
Nepal Telecom has
distributed 19.65 million SIM cards, Ncell 16.49 million and Smart Telecom 2.33
million. Percentage of mobile service is 128.38 per cent against the
population.
Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 26 July 2021.
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