After 6 And a Half Hours of Blocked Internet It Worked The blocked internet has been restored since Thursday afternoon. Worldlink Communications, Subisu Cablenet, Vianet Communications, CGnet, Techminds Network, WiFi Nepal, and other private sector internet service providers have issued notices and informed us that the interrupted services have been resumed.
Most internet service providers’ services were disrupted at around 4 p.m. At that time, the internet service providers mentioned that the internet link was cut because they could not pay the amount for the international bandwidth to the upstream service provider.
Although the service provider has informed us that the internet is running regularly, they have not revealed anything about whether or not there is a permanent solution.
The dispute between the government and the service providers has been going on for a long time regarding whether royalty and the Rural Telecommunication Development Fund (RTDF) should be levied on internet maintenance fees. The service provider has been paying royalties and RTDF (Rural Telecommunications Development Fund) dues from the income other than the maintenance fees, maintaining that maintenance does not fall under telecommunication services.
Due to the dispute between the government and service providers, the Indian upstream providers have not received the bandwidth payment for almost a year. Just last week, Indian upstream provider Bharti Airtel, which supplies 70 percent of international bandwidth to Nepal, had written to service providers that their internet services could be interrupted at any time if they did not receive payment.
According to the Internet Service Providers Association of Nepal (ISPAN), an organization of private sector internet professionals, more than three billion rupees are yet to be paid to upstream providers for internet bandwidth.