VOIP triggers traffic congestion

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KATHMANDU, Feb 21: Increasing number of callers are facing difficulties in making long distance telephone calls to Nepal from abroad for quite some time, thanks to the illegal operation of Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) both at home and abroad.

The unauthorized transmission of voice through Very Small Aperture Terminals (VSATs) has not only made it difficult to make long distance calls to Nepal, but also caused a loss to the government revenue.

Till date, Nepal Telecommunications Corporation (NTC) is the sole authorized operator for voice communication, but some VSAT operators both here and abroad have been routing such calls to Nepal bypassing the NTC’s international circuits.

Since it is expensive to make long distance calls abroad, through the NTC international circuit, the illegal operators allure the callers offering them cheaper rates and they route such calls to the similar unauthorized operators in Nepal. Due mainly to poor equipment and limited circuits such calls cannot be transmitted well which results in traffic congestion.

Most of the callers are not aware of it. They think that it is the NTC through which all international calls are passed and they blame the state-run corporation for the problem.

Raghubar Lal Shrestha, General Manager at the NTC says, "The illegal operation of voice communication has not only caused a revenue loss both to the NTC and the government, but also spoilt the reputation of NTC".

Immediate action should be taken against such illegal operators and the NTC should rebalance its tariffs, especially international call tariffs for which concerned authority should decide in time, he said.

Mostly calls from those countries where a large number of Nepalis reside are congested, as Nepalis tend to make calls at cheaper rates, which VSAT operators offer. National operators in foreign countries charge far higher prices than those VSAT operators, Shrestha added.

It costs 35 cents per minute to make a local call in the US while one can call Nepal at 20 cents per minute.

Following the liberalization of telecom services especially opening VSAT to the private sector, the complaints of incoming traffic congestion has risen, he said attributing the cause to the unauthorized transmission of VOIP.

"Our international circuits are functioning very well. There is no problem with both incoming and outgoing calls as we use the same circuit calls. Therefore, it is clear that foreign operators route incoming calls bypassing our circuit to illegal operators here. As such illegal operators are not well equipped, it creates traffic congestion", he explains.

Ratna Kaji Tuladhar, Deputy General Manager NTC, says NTC’s circuits are of excellent quality. It has direct link with 19 countries and through these countries one can dial directly to 131 countries.

After other countries opened VOIP, callers went for cheaper services and VSAT operators emerged there and they need similar partners to operate business in Nepal.

India is going to open it from coming April and another close neighbour China has long ago opened VOIP.

Experts say that the government needs to open VOIP in order to solve the problem and to provide cheaper services for the majority of low-income people.

ADBN branch slashes services

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SURKHET, Feb 21: Maoist insurgency that has flared in the recent months has forced the Agricultural Development Bank (ADBN) in the Surkhet district to reduce its banking activities.

According to bank sources, the bank has limited its activities to the Surkhet Municipality and four nearby villages. The bank initially catered to the demands from total 22 Village Development Committees inside the district.

Bank sources said that the major reason for limiting the banking operations is limited debt recovery as well as security. "Security reasons has posed a major challenge in effective recovery of debt outside the Surkhet valley," said Lekhnath Thapa, accountant at the ADBN.

"The bank facing problems in the valuation of collateral to sanction loans, as well as in its inspection," he said.

The bank branch that has been operating for the past 25 years has disbursed total credit of Rs 77.8 million. The total accrued interest has accumulated to Rs 10.8 million. Also, out of the total investment, Rs 20.15 million has been defaulted.

Meanwhile, the ADBN Surkhet branch has met the targeted investment for the six months of the current fiscal year. According to the bank statistics, the bank invested Rs 29.7 million against the target of Rs 28.6 million during the first six months of the current fiscal year.

However, the interest collection during the period fell short to the target. The bank was able to collect only Rs 4.8 million against the target of Rs 8.9 million. Earlier, the bank had announced some measures for the debt recovery, which included schemes to rebate the interest to a certain percentage.

Charikot NBL branch cash strapped

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DOLAKHA, Feb 21: The local people of Charikot, district headquarter of the Dholakha district, are facing trouble after the local branch office of Nepal Bank Limited failed to make cheque payments due to dire cash crunch since the last four days.

The branch office of the bank is overcrowded by customers after six local branches of the bank was recently merged with the Charikot branch due to the worsening law and order condition as a result of the Maoist violence.

Depositors, who came long distances to withdraw their accounts, were surprised when the management of the bank said that it is unable to make payments due to cash shortage.

"People deposit their saving in the banks to use it at times of necessity, but due to the carelessness of the bank management, locals are loosing their faith on the bank," Bhakta KC, one of the irked depositors, said.

However, the bank has its own story to tell. Manager of the branch Bal Bhakta Pradhan informed The Kathmandu Post that the problem occurred since the bank could not arrange for the necessary cash due to security problem. "We have already initiated the necessary procedures to arrange for the cash as soon as possible," he said.

He further said that the bank has not entertained cheque only worth over rupees ten thousand. However, he added that the problem would be solved from Friday as cash was released from the center on Thursday and is bring ferried in a helicopter.

Grey products confiscated

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KATHMANDU, Feb 21: A team deployed by the Kathmandu District Administration Office has carried out raids unearthing some grey products being sold openly in different parts of the downtown.

The team has confiscated fake shampoo and soaps from some retailers and wholesalers of Old Baneshwore and Wotu. The team took the action on the basis of a complaint that very low quality shampoos are being sold.

The shampoo bears the labels of Alfa Packaging Mumbai, Bharat and Iliad Hair Industries Mumbai, Bharat. The fake products are similar to the Sunsilk shampoo being produced and distributed by Nepal Lever Ltd, the subsidiary of Hindustan Lever Limited, India. Similarly, some Indonesian Lux soaps with tags saying "sale in Indonesia only" were also confiscated.