NT loses 6pc market share

KATHMANDU, NOV 8: 

Nepal Telecom (NT) has lost six per cent market share in a year, as Ncell surpassed it by three per cent in terms of market share of subscribers.

Ncell has 48 per cent market share of subscribers as of mid-August, against 45 per cent market share of Nepal Telecom.

The largest taxpayer, NT, had been leading the telecom market by almost 10 per cent until a year back. The market share of telecom subscribers of NT was 51 per cent against 43 per cent of Ncell until mid-August 2011.

Nepal Telecom had been leading the market share by one per cent until mid-March 2011, but Ncell started to lead the market share by mid-April 2012. Ncell led the market by three per cent in four months.

Meanwhile, in the latest Management Information System of Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA), the teledensity of the country has reached 66.14 per cent as of mid-August, as compared to 64.91 per cent a month back.

However, the increase in teledensity and subscriber base of internet and mobile failed to contribute to the economy as the country is observing around three per cent economic growth in an average in last 10 years, when the telecommunications started to be a part of society.

The subscriber base of internet and mobile phones has been increasing. In mid-August there were 5.15 million internet users in Nepal, up from 5.04 million reported in mid-July, according to the authority.

The internet penetration rate stood at 19.32 per cent in mid-August against 18.94 percent a month earlier, according to NTA. Internet users who connect via GPRS stood at 4.78 million, up from 4.68 million, followed by CDMA with 196,183 users, as compared to 188,219 users in July. Furthermore, some 88,058 internet subscribers use ADSL, down from 92,302 a month earlier, and there were also 17,981 cable internet users, up from 17,968. 

The number of mobile subscribers in the country grew from 15.33 million in mid-July to 15.63 million in mid-August, according to figures released 

by NTA. Of the total, 14.80 million were GSM users, up from 14.50 million a month earlier, and the remainder use Nepal Telecom’s CDMA service known as Sky Phone.

The number one service provider in terms of subscriber base, Ncell, led with 8.49 million GSM subscribers, up from 8.33 million in mid-July. The subscriber base of Nepal Telecom swelled to 6.30 million, as compared to 6.17 million a month earlier.

However, the subscriber base of Nepal Telecom’s CDMA witnessed a decline and stood at 830,172, down from 829,534 a month ago. The number of fixed telephony users stoodat 839,067 in mid-August, slightly down from 839,710 in mid-July, NTA said.

Source: THT