KATHMANDU, JANUARY 6

Out of the total mobile data users in the country, it has been revealed that the most are using the internet service of the state-owned company, Nepal Telecom (NT).

According to a recent Management Information System (MIS) published by the Nepal Telecommunication Authority (NTA), 60 per cent of the total mobile data users are NT subscribers. As per the report, around 10.6 million users are NT subscribers, with 2.05 million 4G users and 8.43 million using 3G services of the state-owned company.

Meanwhile, 6.7 million users are using Ncell data service, of whom more than four million are using 4G services while 2.6 million are using 3G service. Similarly, 199,761 users are using 4G service of SmartCell. While Ncell and SmartCell provide only mobile data services, NT also provides ADSL, FTTH, WiMAX and other internet services.

Along with this, the total number of internet users has reached 23.9 million across the country. Of them, 17.5 million users are using mobile data while around 6.1 million users are using wired broadband, according to the MIS report up to mid-November, 2020. Similarly, 226,662 are using wireless internet services.

In 2020, internet consumption surged by around 50 per cent compared to previous year. As per the Internet Service Providers’ Association of Nepal, internet consumption soared last year after people were forced to remain indoors due to measures put in place to contain the coronavirus outbreak.

But even after the lockdowns were eased, internet consumption has remained high due to increased preference for digital transactions and as many people continue to work remotely.

NTA has stated that the 4G expansion of NT has also helped to increase its mobile data users in recent months.

However, NTA has also mentioned that the mobile networking service providers are still not being able to give their services in most of the remote areas in the country.