25 out of every 100 Nepalis have access to internet

KATHMANDU, MAY 26 -Nepal has achieved a 24.51 percent internet penetration, according to the latest figures released by the Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA).

Driven by a significant growth in GPRS, ADSL, CDMA, optical fibre and 3G internet services, the number of data subscribers has increased to 6.4 million as of mid-April from 4.6 million a year ago (as of mid-April 2012). According to the NTA, a majority of the internet subscribers are cell phone users who use GPRS — a mobile data service — in the GSM mobile network of Ncell and Nepal Telecom.

Rising demand for data service and stiff market competition has compelled internet service providers (ISPs) to come up with newer schemes at competitive prices to attract customers.

Easy access to GPRS service, tariff cut, increased trend of using smart phones, social media craze among youngsters and increasing ICT knowledge are some of the major factors responsible for the growth in the number of data users.


After NT launched its new high-speed WiMax wireless internet service, ISPs too have slashed their tariffs with attractive schemes. For the growing competition in the data market, the state-owned company recently the slashed prices of almost of all of its data services, including GPRS, 3G and leased line services, with a target of “retaining existing customers and attracting new ones”.

NT is also working to take its new “Sky Pro” mobile data service, which is combined with voice, nationwide under the IP-CDMA project. “We are focusing more on data service as per the demand trend,” said Rajesh Joshi, joint spokesperson for NT. He said customers can use the Sky Pro service in laptop and desktop computers using a USB device.

ISPs, which earlier used to concentrate more on the corporate segment, have started to come up with attractive packages for general uses. According to the ISP Association of Nepal, there is a rapid growth in demand from individuals (30 percent a year) compared to that (10-15 percent a year) in the corporate segment.

Around 90 percent of the country’s data customers are mobile GPRS users. The remaining 10 percent are the users of 3G service, ADSL, optical fibre, cable modem, EDVO, CDMA 1X, dial up and WiMax services.

Ncell commands a 52 percent of the Nepali data market, while Nepal Telecom has a 46 percent share. The remaining two percent is shared by United Telecom Limited (UTL) and internet service providers (ISPs).

Although the growth in the overall internet service subscription is increasing, customers are shying away from dial-up data services for the availability of high-speed cable internet , wireless 3G internet , ADSL and WiMax.

The NTA said the dial-up user base declined to 15,445 users by mid-April from 18,747 users last year. Dial-up is nearly a two-decade-old technology and provides slow connectivity compared to wireless and optical fibre services.