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Kathmandu Saturday January 05, 2002 Paush 21, 2058.
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NTC expands pay phone service
Post Report
KATHMANDU, Jan 4 :Nepal Telecommunications Corporation (NTC), the state-owned
sole operator of telecom services, as a part of introducing and upgrading its services to
enhance its competitiveness, has expanded the pay phone service to various places in the
capital.
A pay phone is a system in which users are required to purchase pre-defined
smart card worth certain amount of money. A caller can make a phone call by inserting the
card in a special phone set as long as the amount of money specified in the card is not
exhausted.
Currently the Corporation has made available cards worth two hundred rupees
in the market which can be bought at the NTC’s various exchanges and many other
places where the service is installed.
The NTC had begun this service in the capital city in September 2001, with
quite a few installations at some of its exchanges in Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur.
The new service had begun with a view to facilitating common people who either do not own
telephone or are away from home, Hiranya Prasad Bhattarai, spokesman at the NTC.
"We have introduced the pay phone service with an objective of making
phone service available to those who do not own telephone or are in urgent need. Once paid
a certain amount, one need not carry any money along with him. Simply carrying a card is
enough," said Bhattarai.
In keeping with the growing interest of the users, the Corporation has
recently installed the services at all exchanges in the Valley and many other public
places, says Bhattarai.
Except for the NTC’s offices at Sundhara, Bhadrakali, Chabahil, Naxal,
Patan, Chhauni, Gongabu, Thimi, Bhaktapur, Tripureshwor and Kopundol, the service is also
available at other places.
Bishal Bazaar, maternity hospital, Thapathali, Army officers’ Club,
Chhetrapati Free Clinic, Royal Nepal Army Headquarters, Army Hospital Mahankal, Tilganga
Eye Hospital, Kathmandu Medical College, Tribhuvan International Airport, Tribhuvan
University Teaching Hospital and Kanti Children’s Hospital are some other places
where the system is available.
Similarly, the service is available in 50 places including those aforesaid
places and the Corporation plans to introduce the service to other potential areas in the
future, according to Spokesman Bhattarai.
The smart cards can be bought from those places where the service is
available. The Corporation is planning to make available five-hundred-rupee smart cards,
as customers have been asking for it, it is said.
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