Ncell Axiata Limited, one of the leading mobile service providers in Nepal, has recently revealed its National contribution report of FY 2019/20. Where they share that they have contributed NPR 60.5 billion to Nepal’s GDP. In the same report, they claimed to be the no. 1 operator in terms of RMS (Revenue market share). Similarly, the report includes all the details of Ncell’s investment and contribution to Nepal’s economy in the FY 2019/20. Find the details on Ncell’s tax, employment, service reach to people (including 4G), and innovative services below.
Ncell has been contributing to the Nepalese telecommunications sector for sixteen years. In those sixteen years, Ncell has brought several innovative services that have created better value for its customers. Let’s take a look at some major growth and contributions of Ncell till 2021.
Ncell Private Limited became Ncell Axiata Limited
Ncell was a private company that first pitched in with the name ‘Mero Mobile’ in 2004. Later in 2010, its parent company, Telia company rebranded it as Ncell Private Limited. In 2016, Axiata Group bought Ncell and, it was in 2020 that Ncell Private Limited transformed to Ncell Axiata Limited after registering the company as a public company. As a public company, Ncell can now issue 20% of its share available to the public. So another telco, Ncell will soon enter the stock market with IPO, just like the idea of Worldlink, Dish Home.
Ncell’s contribution to Nepal’s economy
Ncell has invested NRs. 1.25 billion in various social projects that target the development of socio-economic aspects of our country. As per the report, the contributing sectors include Health, Education, Environment, Disaster Preparedness and Response, Livelihood support among many others. Similarly, Ncell remains more frontline in contributing in the following aspects.
Public Finances
Ncell is Nepal’s one of the largest taxpayers. Ncell accounts for 3.8% of the total tax revenue of the Nepal government in the fiscal year 2019/20. It sums to around NPR 32.62 billion, which as per them is the largest from the telecom sector. However, in the FY 2018/19, it was a whopping NPR 34.55 billion. Also, check out Ncell’s revenue declines in the third quarter of 2020.
Gross Value Added (GVA)
In the FY 2019/20, Ncell’s aggregate contribution to GVA totals NPR 60.51 billion. It is the sum of NPR 28.98 billion of Operational Direct GVA, NPR 21.23 billion of Capital Investment GVA, and NPR 10.29 billion of Operational Indirect and Induced GVA. Moreover, it turns out to be 1.6% of the national GDP, which is a slight decline of 2% from FY 2018/19.
Total Employment
As of FY 2019/20, Ncell Axiata has created approximately 57,000 employment opportunities in total. Ncell has supported 543 jobs directly and 18,000 jobs indirectly by its operations. Similarly, almost 38,000 jobs have been supported by capital investments. Out of 543 jobs, more than 98% of employees are Nepali residents and 24% are female employees.
Capital Investment
Ncell’s capital investment has doubled in a year. The capital investment of Ncell was NPR 11.97 billion in the FY 2018/19. But, in the FY 2019/20, Ncell has accumulated a capital investment of NPR 26.77 billion.
Ncell’s service outreach
The Ncell has a total population coverage of 92.47% among which has a smartphone penetration of 64% and 58% of the 4G population. With a goal to connect every Nepali providing high-quality network service, Ncell has garnered over 16 million subscribers in 71 districts. Also, Ncell aims to extend its service to remote areas of Nepal. It covers around 59% of BTS in Rural areas. It also provides a roaming facility in 110+ countries.
Ncell’s innovative services
Ncell is one of those telecom operators that have consistently tried to contribute to social projects and spread social messages through various campaigns. Plus they try to bring out innovation in terms of providing efficient services to people.
One of Ncell’s ongoing and popular campaigns is the #unpause campaign. Under this campaign, Ncell has launched various services for its customers. GGO SIM was introduced as a part of this campaign targeting women group. Similarly, the Ncell Jobshop service aims to create a bridge between job seekers and employers. Ncell brought Ncell Audio Class, an innovative learning service for students. Similarly, Ncell launched Biz+ Plan for business and enterprises targeting corporate users. It was a part of the #FastForwardLife initiative while Ncell Chatbot is the latest offering.
Ncell is the first telecom operator in Nepal to upgrade the movie watching experience by introducing iflix. Similarly, Ncell brought the first mobile on-demand streaming app, the Yonder music app, in Nepal in 2017. Sadly, both of them are not in operations now. Ncell has been introducing various services and initiatives in Nepal that bring changes in the way people use mobile services in Nepal.
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