Fiscal Nepal
First Business News Portal in English from Nepal
KATHMANDU: Nepal Telecom (NT), the country’s state-owned telecom operator, suffered a major outage on Tuesday, leaving customers across Kathmandu and multiple provinces unable to make calls or use mobile data. The disruption, which began around 5:30 PM, triggered widespread complaints as both voice services and mobile internet stopped functioning simultaneously.
Fiscal Nepal’s independent tests also confirmed that voice calls were not connecting and mobile data showed no usable internet signal, despite devices indicating network availability. The outage severely impacted users relying on NT’s network for essential communication, online payments, navigation, and office connectivity.
Billing System Failure Yet Again
According to a senior telecom engineer, the root of the problem is NT’s outdated and poorly maintained billing system, which the company has repeatedly failed to upgrade on time. Technical staff say this system routinely triggers service breakdowns, yet the management has not prioritized a permanent fix.
“This issue originates from the same old billing platform. Until it is fully upgraded, such disruptions will continue to occur,” the senior engineer said on condition of anonymity.
No Official Statement from Nepal Telecom
Attempts to contact Nepal Telecom’s spokesperson were unsuccessful, and the company has not issued any public clarification regarding the outage. As frustration surged, users expressed anger online, criticizing NT for repeated network failures, poor response mechanisms, and lack of transparency.
The prolonged silence has further fueled concerns about the operator’s service reliability, especially at a time when Nepal’s digital economy is expanding and telecom stability is critical for banking, payments, and emergency communications.
Users Blame Mismanagement
Consumers have slammed the state-owned operator for chronic mismanagement, slow modernization, and failure to keep up with growing traffic demands. Although NT holds a dominant market share and access to nationwide infrastructure, experts argue the company lags behind private operators in innovation, customer service, and system upgrades.
As the outage continues to affect thousands of subscribers, Nepal Telecom has yet to provide an explanation—or a timeline for service restoration.
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