Ncell's share in voice, data market down

KATHMANDU, Dec 8:

Ncell´s market share in voice and data has fallen over the past year.

According to MIS report made public by Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA), Ncell´s share in voice dropped to 48 percent from 49 percent in the month ending mid-September, compared to figures of the same month last year. Likewise, its share in data fell to 44 percent from 49 percent recorded in the review period compared to data of the same month last year.

Ncell´s share in voice market, however, was higher than the state-owned Nepal Telecom (NT) in the review month. NT enjoyed 45 percent market share in the month ending mid-September, compared to Ncell´s 48 percent. But in case of market share of data, Ncell (45 percent) lags behind NT (54 percent).

"Though our market share in data is fluctuating, our subscribers are increasing with every passing day," Milan Mani Sharma, corporate communication Expert of Ncell, told Republica.

Data users of Ncell increased to 3.9 million from 3.5 million in the review period. In the same period, NT´s data subscribers increased to 4.9 million from 3.4 million.

NT´s market share in both voice and data increased remarkably in the past year. NT´s market share in voice increased to 45 percent from month ending mid-September, compared to 43 percent in the same month last year. Likewise, its share in data market has increased to 54 percent compared to last year´s 48 percent.

According to the report, Ncell has 10.2 million GSM subscribers at present, while NTC has 10.06 million subscribers.

NT is putting focus on data services in 2014/15. It is installing Wi-Fi hotspots in different parts of the country so that people can use its Wi-Fi service with ease. It aims to add 32,227 new ADSL subscribers in the current fiscal year.

Not only that, NT is also working to expand 3G service across the country.

Source: Republica