Telecom service in the country has reached 42 out of every 100 people. With increasing competition among telecom operators and reduced price of the technology, teledensity has touched 41.51 percent as of mid-March this year.
According to the Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA), the total number of telecom service users amounted to 11.87 million including 10.36 million mobile service (GSM and CDMA) subscribers, 0.84 million fixed-line subscribers and 0.65 million limited mobility service and GMPCS subscribers.
Out of the total teledensity, mobile users account for 36.27 percent, fixed line 2.95 percent and other services 2.29 percent among the projected national population of 25.8 million. As of mid-March last year, there were 7.61 million subscribers and teledensity was 27.70 percent.
“The GSM mobile subscription rate has increased significantly as an impact of the competition between operators and lowered tariff,” said Kailash Prasad Neupane, spokesperson of the authority. He added that a decline in the cost of telecommunications equipment in the international market and service expansion by the operators had also contributed to the increased number of users.
During the one-year period from mid-March 2010 to mid-March 2011, telecom operators added 4.24 million subscribers to their telecom network. This is more than a two-fold growth compared to the period mid-March 2009 to mid-March 2010 when the operators had added 2.10 million users to their subscriber base.
NTA chairman Bhesh Raj Kanel said that if the same growth rate continued, telecom service would reach the entire population within the next three years. He added that the authority was preparing a strategy to make this happen.
There are six telecom operators in the domestic telecom industry. However, competition among the three major operators—Nepal Telecom (NT), Ncell and United Telecom Limited (UTL)—is the stiffest as other operators are concentrating on areas outside the Kathmandu Valley which is the largest market in the country.
State-owned telecom operator NT has the largest market share of 53 percent with 6.34 million subscribers to its mobile service, fixed line and other voice services. Ncell, the first private sector GSM mobile service operator, has a total of 4.78 million subscribers and occupies 40 percent of the total market as of mid-March.
Ncell has overtaken telecom giant NT in the GSM segment with aggressive marketing, new schemes, service area expansion and tariff cuts during the last one year. Similarly, the subscriber base of UTL, the first private sector telecom operator, holds 5 percent of the total market share. It offers wireless loop technology-based basic telecom service and limited mobility service to 0.54 million subscribers.
Among the rest of the telecom operators, Smart Telecom has a subscriber base of 94,572, Nepal Satellite Telecom 86,225 and STM Telecom 5,220.
Period Teledensity % Subscribers
Mid-March 2009 20.25 5.51 million
Mid-March 2010 27.70 7.61 million
Mid-March 2011 41.51 11.86 million
According to the Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA), the total number of telecom service users amounted to 11.87 million including 10.36 million mobile service (GSM and CDMA) subscribers, 0.84 million fixed-line subscribers and 0.65 million limited mobility service and GMPCS subscribers.
Out of the total teledensity, mobile users account for 36.27 percent, fixed line 2.95 percent and other services 2.29 percent among the projected national population of 25.8 million. As of mid-March last year, there were 7.61 million subscribers and teledensity was 27.70 percent.
“The GSM mobile subscription rate has increased significantly as an impact of the competition between operators and lowered tariff,” said Kailash Prasad Neupane, spokesperson of the authority. He added that a decline in the cost of telecommunications equipment in the international market and service expansion by the operators had also contributed to the increased number of users.
During the one-year period from mid-March 2010 to mid-March 2011, telecom operators added 4.24 million subscribers to their telecom network. This is more than a two-fold growth compared to the period mid-March 2009 to mid-March 2010 when the operators had added 2.10 million users to their subscriber base.
NTA chairman Bhesh Raj Kanel said that if the same growth rate continued, telecom service would reach the entire population within the next three years. He added that the authority was preparing a strategy to make this happen.
There are six telecom operators in the domestic telecom industry. However, competition among the three major operators—Nepal Telecom (NT), Ncell and United Telecom Limited (UTL)—is the stiffest as other operators are concentrating on areas outside the Kathmandu Valley which is the largest market in the country.
State-owned telecom operator NT has the largest market share of 53 percent with 6.34 million subscribers to its mobile service, fixed line and other voice services. Ncell, the first private sector GSM mobile service operator, has a total of 4.78 million subscribers and occupies 40 percent of the total market as of mid-March.
Ncell has overtaken telecom giant NT in the GSM segment with aggressive marketing, new schemes, service area expansion and tariff cuts during the last one year. Similarly, the subscriber base of UTL, the first private sector telecom operator, holds 5 percent of the total market share. It offers wireless loop technology-based basic telecom service and limited mobility service to 0.54 million subscribers.
Among the rest of the telecom operators, Smart Telecom has a subscriber base of 94,572, Nepal Satellite Telecom 86,225 and STM Telecom 5,220.
Period Teledensity % Subscribers
Mid-March 2009 20.25 5.51 million
Mid-March 2010 27.70 7.61 million
Mid-March 2011 41.51 11.86 million
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