Ncell, the private telecommunication operator of Nepal has made huge progress in 3G service expansion. Ncell 3G service has reached to 54% of total population in Nepal. The Malaysian company Axiata is the major investor of Ncell. The company recently published a collective annual report stating the fact about Ncell’s 3G service in Nepal.
Ncell had promised to deploy 3G service in rural areas of the country last year. The government also gave permission to Ncell for the deployment of 3G in 900 MHz for rural areas. The deployment of service benefited the people of rural areas. People are getting a lot of advantages from the high-speed internet at the fingertips. As per the end of 2017, Ncell has installed 2,699 3G sites in the country.
The annual report states that “Ncell’s 3G service coverage has reached to 53.9% of the population”. NTA provided license to Ncell for the technology neutrality in 1800 and 900MHz band frequency. Out of 11 MHz allotted to Ncell in 1800MHz band, Ncell is using 5 MHz bands for 4G service.
Ncell 4G service expansion
Along with 3G service, the private telco is aggressively expanding 4G service in the country. As per the report, Ncell has deployed 4G service to 15.5% of the total population with coverage in 21 cities.
With the expansion of 3G and 4G services, the data customers and profit from internet services is growing rapidly. 19% of the total income of the company is from internet services and the profit from data service has grown by 17.8%. Total data volume consumption of Ncell has grown by 131%, stated in the report.
Ncell Income and Investment
Out of company’s total income of Rs 58.1 Arba in 2017, the company invested Rs 12 Arba for network expansion and up-gradation. “There is total 1 crore 64 lakhs customers out of which 71 lakhs customers use data service” states the annual report.
As per the report, with the wide expansion of 3G network throughout the country, more than 1000 villages of rural areas will have 3G coverage. Fast internet service provides various benefits to the people throughout the country.
The study from World Bank suggests that the reach of mobile broadband helps to increase the economic growth. in with a short period of time. The increase of broadband in the total population by 10% results in the country’s economic growth by 1.38% as per the report.
