State-owned Nepal Telecom has cancelled the bidding process for a nearly Rs5 billion telecom billing system, effectively removing China’s telecom giant Huawei from contention.
Huawei had technically qualified for the bid on August 25 last year, along with another supplier. The cancellation comes as Nepal Telecom prepares to roll out an ultra-fast 5G network in standalone mode, marking a shift away from its long-standing partnership with Huawei, which built the country’s 3G and 4G network infrastructure.
In a notice published in the state-owned Gorkhapatra daily on Sunday, Nepal Telecom formally cancelled the tender for the supply, delivery, installation, and commissioning of a convergent real-time billing and customer support system. The decision was taken on Friday and made public two days later.
Huawei reacted by saying the cancellation came “without citing any reason.” A Huawei source said repeated obstructions had stalled a process originally intended to upgrade the system through transparent competition and defined technical standards, creating barriers to Nepal Telecom’s digital transformation.
Rabindra Manandhar, spokesperson for Nepal Telecom, said the bid documents contained clauses that did not comply with Nepal’s public procurement law. Huawei and Whalecloud were the two shortlisted bidders. Whalecloud Technology, largely owned by Alibaba and closely associated with ZTE, was also disqualified at the technical proposal stage.
Officials said Huawei had initially been invited to open its financial proposal after clearing technical evaluation. However, the Ministry of Communication under the Sushila Karki-led administration ordered the process halted, citing concerns over irregularities. The financial proposal was never opened, and management later cancelled the bid entirely.
Nepal Telecom now plans to issue a fresh tender and consult stakeholders before re-announcing it. Officials said Huawei would be free to participate again.
Some involved in the process said concerns had emerged that Huawei and Whalecloud were linked, potentially limiting competition and creating a monopoly. Such a scenario, they warned, could lock the operator into long-term dependence on a single vendor and risk outdated or lower-quality services.
A telecom billing system manages the financial lifecycle of voice, data, and messaging services, including usage collection, tariff application, invoicing, payments, and financial reporting. Automation is critical for accurate revenue management by telecom operators.
According to the Nepal Telecommunications Authority, Nepal Telecom had 15.92 million subscribers by mid-December last year, representing 53.5 percent of the market.
Currently, Nepal Telecom’s billing operations are handled by Asia Info Linkage Technologies, another Chinese firm. Asia Info was awarded the contract in December 2011 for 10 years, extended by one year in 2021 and by five years in 2022. Insiders say the outdated system has affected service reliability, while repeated extensions raised concerns.
In June last year, the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority filed a corruption case against Nepal Telecom Managing Director Sangita Pahadee, former managing director Sunil Paudel, and 16 others over alleged irregularities in procuring the billing system and its maintenance contract. The anti-graft body said officials caused losses by setting “unnatural price rates” for services from Asia Info.
Following large-scale Gen Z–led protests and the formation of a new government, Nepal Telecom temporarily halted the bidding process on October 24. The Ministry of Communication and Information Technology formed a study committee days later.
Some observers describe the cancellation as geopolitically driven. Foreign policy expert Rupak Sapkota said decisions to exclude Chinese firms from multiple projects suggest external influence. Telecom officials familiar with the matter said pressure from the United States and India played a role.
The move also follows Beijing’s recent concern over Chinese entities being implicated in the China-funded Pokhara International Airport project, now under corruption investigation. Former Chinese ambassador Chen Song raised reservations on the issue during a farewell call on Prime Minister Karki.
