Internet providers in Nepal issued a warning on Friday, highlighting the looming threat of widespread outages due to unpaid dues to Indian companies. This comes on the heels of a disruptive episode that left millions without service.
According to the Internet Service Providers Association of Nepal (ISPAN), several private internet companies experienced service disruptions on Thursday night. This occurred when their upstream partners in neighboring India terminated connections due to outstanding payments.
Netblocks, an internet outage monitoring service, recorded significant bandwidth reductions or complete cutoffs for 18 Nepali internet providers during the five-hour outage.
The outstanding dues amount to approximately three billion Nepali rupees ($22.5 million) owed by broadband providers to Indian vendors. However, transferring the funds has been impeded.
The Nepalese government’s refusal to grant approval for fund transfers stems from a requirement for internet providers to settle outstanding taxes before remitting payments abroad. This dispute has persisted over the years.
Private internet providers argue that the legal framework governing their operations exempts them from the taxes in question.
Nepal’s internet landscape boasts over 10 million subscribers to private internet companies, as per a report by the Nepal Telecommunications Authority released last year.
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