There have been many complaints regarding the poor services of Nepal Telecom (NT) mobile phone service, such as not getting the connection in a single go, the perceived “unreliability” of the mobile service and frequent disruptions in the middle of talks. The problems are perceived as even more acute during emergencies. Even the SMS service of NT is thought of as unreliable as it takes “hours” to get through. Yet the NT, with some justification, says that GSM-based service (available in most mobiles) is in itself not as reliable service as landline or the much-advanced CDMA service. In other words, it has been a case of poor service and low cost for people.

The NT has so far distributed over 1.1 million cellular mobile phones across the country. The NT is also trying to upgrade its service and add 25,000 new network towers in the next three years. Hence there seems genuine communication gap between NT and its customers as well as legitimate technical problems. But despite multiple difficulties, mobile phones, with their portability and other essential services, have become an indespensible part of the lives of most people. It would indeed be great if NT can improve its services, making them more user-friendly while also not hiking the cost a lot at the same time. That presents the dilemma of having the cake and eating it too. Hence NT has got to maintain that thin balance between reliable serivce and affordable cost. It will be a tricky business indeed.