Mar 26, Kathmandu: Smart Telecom, the third largest mobile service provider in the country, has unannouncedly stopped its services in various parts of the country.

Although the company has not given any official information, the customers of Smart Telecom have complained that the service has been stopped and they have not been able to use the recharge amount. A user named Saroj Shrestha complained that Smart Telecom's network has not come up in the Greater Varyang area for more than a month. "When contacting the company, they give answers that they are trying to solve the technical problem," he said.

Customers of the company have also sent complaints from Janakpur, Bhaktapur, Jhapa, and other places that the service is not operational. Another mobile user, Sanu Jhapali, informed us that it has been two months since the Smart Telecom network stopped working in Damak.

Similarly, Saroj Hazare complained that months have passed since Dahal stopped coming to the network. "I could not even spend my balance of 278 rupees in Smart Cell," he said. Rasik Krishna said that even though Smart Telecom's network is used in some places in Kathmandu, it does not work for making calls and using data.

On the other hand, when trying to communicate with the upper-level employees of Smart Telecom, there was no phone contact. The representative of the company's customer service center admitted that there were technical problems in the company's network in different parts of the country.

"Our technical team is working to solve the problem," he said. But his response was that it is not possible to say for sure how long the problem will be solved. On the other hand, the regulator Nepal Telecommunication Authority has said that it is informally informed that Smart Telecom's network has stopped working. But the license period of the company, which has not paid billions of rupees in government dues, is ending at the end of this March.

Officials of the authority say that Smart Telecom, which has not paid even one billion rupees before, is not likely to renew its license after paying about 30 billion rupees including arrears. "Now there is no other option to 'take over' the company," said a senior official of the authority, "for that we have formed a management group."

It is the understanding of the regulator that the company may not have paid attention to the service operation as it has reached the state of government control due to the failure to pay the arrears. However, the authority's spokesperson Santosh Paudel said that the network should be kept active and customers should not be deprived of mobile services.

According to the provisions of the property management regulations of telecommunications service providers that do not have valid licenses, such companies have to hand them over to the government in their current state.

In rule 9 of the regulation, "the service provider who does not have a license for which more than 50 percent of the total capital investment is invested by foreign individuals or organized organizations shall hand over to the authority the assets that will remain the property of the Government of Nepal and related telecommunication infrastructure, structures, telecommunication systems, and telecommunication networks in their current state."

While there is a provision that the regulator can give instructions for the continuation of telecommunication services even to service providers whose property has been transferred. In the case where it is informed that the telecommunication service cannot be continued, the authority can immediately operate the telecommunication service through the management group or make other necessary arrangements to continue such telecommunication service.