The highest growth in GSM users was observed from 2009 to 2010. More than 3.6 million new users were added during that period. [break]
State-owned operator Nepal Telecom (NT) added 0.7 million users while private operator Ncell was able to almost double its total subscribers base, adding around 1.8 million users.
Ananda Raj Khanal, Director of NTA, said mobile penetration has drastically gone up after the introduction of pre-paid GSM service, followed by free incoming calls.
“The handset is becoming cheaper and competition among operators has resulted in reduced tariff,” he said, citing the reasons for the growth in recent years.
Despite such positive growth, mobile subscription in Nepal is not overwhelming compared to South Asian countries. The number of mobile users in India was 60 per 100 people in 2010, according to a report of International Telecommunication Union (ITU).
Khanal opined lack of infrastructure development in telecommunication is a hindrance in telecom’s growth. “A rapid expansion of telecom infrastructure has taken place in the last 4 years,” he said, adding the growth so far has been satisfactory and now telecom companies need to focus on better service.
The overall tele-density in the country has reached 53.5 percent, which was limited to 36.37 percent, a year ago. Similarly, fixed line penetration has increased by 0.15 percent only, reaching 3.16 percent.
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