Mobile telephony market’s explosive growth continues
KATHMANDU, JUN 13 -
Mobile telephony has virtually become the mainstay of telecommunication in Nepal. Such is its domination that 37 percent of the country’s population uses mobile phones.
Latest statistics of the Nepal Telecommunication Authority (NTA) show that the number of mobile phone subscribers has reached 10.7 million—an increase of 57 percent over the last year (mid-April 2010 to mid-April 2011).
The growth can be attributed to stiff competition between two major players—Nepal Telecom and Ncell—that resulted in reduced tariff, introduction of new value added services and availability of affordable handsets.
Coverage of mobile telephony has also widened with the expansion of services to rural areas. “Telecom companies are investing huge money for service expansion to stay ahead in the competition,” said Kailash Neupane, spokesperson for NTA.
Nepal is predominantly a GSM mobile market. And, it is the rapid expansion of GSM mobile service that has been instrumental in the overall growth of mobile telephony. GSM mobile has the largest market share of 81 percent. Number of users in the GSM segment has increased by around 60 percent over the last year—from 6.15 million to 9.83 million.
With the mobile telephony getting high priority from telecom companies as well as users, fixed telephony (land line) has taken a back seat. A Nepal Telecom official says there has been a huge decline in demand for land line telephones these days.
Now, even Nepal Telecom (NT) is more focused on mobile telephony with aggressive expansion plans in the GSM segment. This year, the country’s telecom sector is expected to see a fierce competition between NT and Ncell.
In a bid to retain its No 1 position in the GSM mobile segment, NT is currently carrying out groundwork to add 10 million new lines in its GSM network. NT lost its No 1 position to Ncell in mid-March.
According to NTA statistics, Ncell currently has 5.03 million subscribers against NT’s 4.80 million. It was the combination of several factors such as aggressive marketing and rebranding exercise, launch of new services and infrastructure expansion, among others, that propelled Ncell to the numero uno position.
Mobile telephony in Nepal is only 12 years old. NT expanded telecom services and infrastructure to all parts of the country, while private players, including Ncell, played a key role in making telecom service affordable to common people.
Mobile telephony has increased common people’s access to telecommunication. Gone are the days when people had to wait for years for a single telephone line. Now, within an hour, people can get a mobile connection. And, this is why more people are getting attracted to this service.
The expansion of mobile telephony has also opened new business avenues, with mobile banking introduced by some commercial banks being an example. Now, banks and tech-companies are jointly getting into mobile commerce to reach out to remote areas that are not covered by conventional banking.
Number of subscribers
GSM-> 6,150,305 -> 9,839,334
CDMA-> 678,163 -> 871,219
Total-> 6,828,468 -> 10,710,553
Source: Kantipur
Mobile telephony has virtually become the mainstay of telecommunication in Nepal. Such is its domination that 37 percent of the country’s population uses mobile phones.
Latest statistics of the Nepal Telecommunication Authority (NTA) show that the number of mobile phone subscribers has reached 10.7 million—an increase of 57 percent over the last year (mid-April 2010 to mid-April 2011).
The growth can be attributed to stiff competition between two major players—Nepal Telecom and Ncell—that resulted in reduced tariff, introduction of new value added services and availability of affordable handsets.
Coverage of mobile telephony has also widened with the expansion of services to rural areas. “Telecom companies are investing huge money for service expansion to stay ahead in the competition,” said Kailash Neupane, spokesperson for NTA.
Nepal is predominantly a GSM mobile market. And, it is the rapid expansion of GSM mobile service that has been instrumental in the overall growth of mobile telephony. GSM mobile has the largest market share of 81 percent. Number of users in the GSM segment has increased by around 60 percent over the last year—from 6.15 million to 9.83 million.
With the mobile telephony getting high priority from telecom companies as well as users, fixed telephony (land line) has taken a back seat. A Nepal Telecom official says there has been a huge decline in demand for land line telephones these days.
Now, even Nepal Telecom (NT) is more focused on mobile telephony with aggressive expansion plans in the GSM segment. This year, the country’s telecom sector is expected to see a fierce competition between NT and Ncell.
In a bid to retain its No 1 position in the GSM mobile segment, NT is currently carrying out groundwork to add 10 million new lines in its GSM network. NT lost its No 1 position to Ncell in mid-March.
According to NTA statistics, Ncell currently has 5.03 million subscribers against NT’s 4.80 million. It was the combination of several factors such as aggressive marketing and rebranding exercise, launch of new services and infrastructure expansion, among others, that propelled Ncell to the numero uno position.
Mobile telephony in Nepal is only 12 years old. NT expanded telecom services and infrastructure to all parts of the country, while private players, including Ncell, played a key role in making telecom service affordable to common people.
Mobile telephony has increased common people’s access to telecommunication. Gone are the days when people had to wait for years for a single telephone line. Now, within an hour, people can get a mobile connection. And, this is why more people are getting attracted to this service.
The expansion of mobile telephony has also opened new business avenues, with mobile banking introduced by some commercial banks being an example. Now, banks and tech-companies are jointly getting into mobile commerce to reach out to remote areas that are not covered by conventional banking.
Number of subscribers
GSM-> 6,150,305 -> 9,839,334
CDMA-> 678,163 -> 871,219
Total-> 6,828,468 -> 10,710,553
Source: Kantipur
