Wireless Internet/Data Market in Nepal:

A Boon for Telecom Operator

Dpt. Manager, Ananta Mallik,
MSD, Plc!o"k
#eneral
A World Bank study emphasizing the importance of internet penetration for developing
economies concluded that Every 10 % increase in broadband penetration provides a 1!" per
cent increase in #$%& 'his is era of ()' and *epal is not the e+ception According to the (',
report -easuring the (nformation .ociety /0110 *epal increased its (nformation and
)ommunication $evelopment (nde+ 1($(2 ranking up from 1!3 in /00" to 1!4 in /010 among
15/ countries *epal has e+perienced unprecedented mobile gro6th 7 has the potential to repeat
the same for broadband data service (',8s -(. /01! indicates that 6ireless broadband (nternet
access remains the strongest gro6th sector in developing countries (t sho6s that 50% of the
6orld population lives 6ithin reach of a !# net6ork 9ecent *epal 'elecom Authority 1*'A28s
-(. report also sho6s the overall market gro6th of internet:data service is gro6ing up
e+ponentially in *epal eg 6ithin 5 years of time *epal8s (nternet penetration has surged from
/5% to /3;/% ie more than 11 fold 'hus there is a tremendous gro6th in this segment of
telecom business in *epal
(n *epalese scenario0 fe6 years back0 dial up service and leased line 6as the only possible media
for internet But at present people have many choices like A$.<0 =$.<0 >iber to ?ome 1>'?20
Wi-a+0 Wi>i0 !#0 E=$@ 0 cable '= etc -oreover0 there is not any monopoly of *' in the data
market $ata customers have many options like different service provider0 different band6idth0
different technologies 1fi+ed and 6ireless2 .o0 the competition in the data service market is also
becoming tougher
Tele$Densit% scenario in Nepal
(n /01!0 *epal8s 'eleAdensity has reached to "!% 1>i+edA!%B -obileA"0%20 6here fi+ed lines
gro6th rate is almost nil but -obile services
gro6th rate is still /0% But here it is
important to notice that -obile penetration
has already reached to "0% ie it 6ill tend to
saturate after reaching 100% As of no6
1@ct /01!2 there are almost /1/- mobile
subscribers in *epal Based on )B. data
1666cbsgovnp2 by the end of /01" the
population 6ill reach to almost /;1- ie to
have 100% penetration0 additional 3; - lines capacity is reCuired in the ne+t 5 years 'o achieve
this *'8s 10- proDect seems to be sufficient beside other operator8s role out plan
As far as (nternet8s penetration in *epal is concerned0 there is an e+ponential gro6th of data
subscribers in *epal Within 5 years of time it has surged from !% to /"% (',8s -easuring
the (nformation .ociety& report also indicates
that *epal had improved its ()' development
inde+ 1($(2 from the position of 1!3 to 1!4
during /00" to /010 But still it is lo6er than
many other developing country8s penetration
1!1%2 and 6orld8s average internet
penetration 1!;%2 (n other 6ord0 E/% of
*epalese people are still out of reach of
(nternet (n fact0 this figure sho6s that there is
a tremendous opportunity for *' and other service providers to e+pand the (nternet:$ata
business in *epalese market
Worl&"i&e Internet Penetration scenario
Internet/Data Penetration (%)
Country 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
Developed 63 65 70 75 77
World 20 27 33 35 39
Developing 10 17 23 27 31
Nepal 3 6 14 21 28

(n /01!0 over /3 billion people are using the internet0 6hich corresponds to !;% of the
6orld8s population (n the developing 6orld0 !1% of the population is online0 compared 6ith
33% in the developed 6orld *E%A< has also reached almost 1/"%2 up to the level of
developing countries 1!1%2 -oreover0 there is an e+ponential gro6th of internet users in
*epal 1/5% to /3;/%F G 11 fold 6ithin last 5 years2
Digital Nati'es Scenario in Nepal
$igital natives0 as described in (',8s -easuring the (nformation .ocietyA/01!&0 are the
generation of young people 6ho are all native speakers& of the digital language of
computers0 video games and the (nternet (', has categorized a digital native as a youth0
aged 15A/4 inclusive0 6ith five years or more e+perience using the (nternet
As per that report0 a comparison bet6een countries8 ()' infrastructure and uptake H as
measured by the ($( H and their proportion of digital natives sho6s a strong correlation 'his
TeleDen!ity "#enario in Nepal
Penetration
(%) 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
$i%ed

3

3

3

3

3
&o'ile

23

33

52

66

80
Internet

3

6

14

21

28
/
suggests that enhancing ()' access and use should support a gro6ing level of digital
nativism A country8s population of digital natives also resonates 6ith its level of 1economic2
development
(n every country of the 6orld0 the 15A/4 year olds are more likely to be (nternet users0
suggesting that the young are drivers of the information society (n most of the 6orld8s least
developed countries0 young people are nearly three times more likely than the general
population to be using the (nternet
*epal8s rank of digital nativism in /01! is 15" out of 1"0 countries (',8s report sho6s that
*epal8s digital native population during /01/ 6as /!"003;0 6hich is only 0"% of total
population and !3% of total youth population 1/0;%2 Which sho6s ;E!% of *epalese
youth are still not using internet .o0 there is a tremendous data business scope to catch those
youth segment
(n order to catch those segment0 *' has already started e+pansion of !#0 Wi-a+0 Ev$o and
/# data services ubiCuitously including rural areas
Data/Internet Market s!are in Nepal
Data/Internet &ar(et ")are %
NDC* +T* N#ell I"P!
2009
32

4
5
6

9
2010
30

2
6
4

4
2011
38

2
5
8

2
2012 45 2 52 1
2013 48 2 49 1
(n the *epalese ()' market0 presently there are four maDor players in the market viz *$)<
1*epal 'elecom0 *'20 ,'<0 *cell and (.%s As of @ctober0 /01!0 though there are /; (.%s
altogethers in operation thorough out *epal but their market share is Dust 1% 1";0/1;2 'he maDor
subscriber holder (.%8s are Broadlink1!"050!20Worldlink11;045020 .ubisu 1"044!20
-ercantile1E040!2 and Web .urfer 1E00!02 .imilarly ,'< also has Dust /% market share
1;;0/E52 and hence the maDor data subscribers are 6ith *epal 'elecom1!5-2 and *cell 1!E-2
.imilarly it is found that the maDor data:internet service medium is 6ireless 1;3%2 'hough there
is a niche market for data service through cable modem and optical fiber but the market is very
limited
9egarding the gro6th of $ata:(nternet market in *epal0 it sho6s that *epal 'elecom has
significantly improved it8s market share from !/% to 4"% 6ithin last 5 years0 6hich is almost
eCual to *cell 14;%2 .ince last ! years the gro6th rate of data:internet subscribers of *'8 is
!
ascending 6here as that of *cell is descending *'8s nation6ide rollout plan of 10-
#.-:,-'.0 Wi-a+ and )$-A 1+:Ev$o proDect may further enhance this gro6th rate
Segment "ise Data/Internet Market gro"t! scenario of NT
As par 6ith global trend0 it is seen that out of !5-
data subscribers of *'0 the maDor data subscribers
are 6ireless 1;3 %2 as compared to 6ire line data
subscribers 1!%2 -ore specifically0 #.-:,-'.
subscribers are almost ;!% -oreover0 $ialup
service has negative gro6th rate 1e+cept in /01!2
6here as #.- data subscription has about 4E% gro6th rate
B(# #ro"t!$S!are Matri) scenario of NT*s Data ser'ice
>rom the above matri+0 it indicates that presently A$.< service is a )ash co6 service But
before it goes to I$og8 state like dialup service0 it is 6ise to e+pand its E$#E:W)$-A:)$-A
1+:Ev$o:Wi-a+ services to enhance it to I)ash )o68 state <ike6ise0 *' should also be
prepared for ne6 broadband technologies like <'E 1<ong 'erm Evolution2 to catch the ne+t
generation 14#2 data service before /# data gets saturated 1$og state2 (n other 6ord0
Data/Internet &ar(et ,ro-t) o. NT
Dialup /D"* ,P0" CD&/ 1% Wi&a%
2009 52,151 33,816 74,711 59,800 -
2010 7,082 55,080 353,522 76,712 -
2011 5,557 76,740 1,242,499 109,127 -
2012 4,445 103,204 2,263,080 136,573 -
2013 4,770 103,462 3,311,349 136,573 4,451
4
introducing reliable and affordable 6ireless broadband data service 6ill be more fruitful to *' as
6ell as to the nation
(onclsion:
As per *'8s recent success story0 it has been e+perienced that not only the voice subscribers
gro6th but recent /#1#%9.:E$#E2 and !#1W)$-A2 data net6ork e+pansion in Jathmandu
valley sho6s an over6helming response from the data customers Kust 6ith the enhancement of
/E5 sites in Jathmandu valley it has been observed that %. data throughput has been increased
from "4 -bps 1-a+imum in busy hour2 to 4;0 -bps By e+ploring *'8s ongoing 10-
#.-:,-'. 0 /- )$-A 1+:EvA$o and Wi-a+:Wi>i proDects0 it can be envisaged that
*epalese people can enDoy even more data throughput throughout the country and *epal8s ()'
development inde+ 1($(2 6ill get better and better in coming years
But to achieve this0 *' should have a very clear cut road map for data service supported by effective
business development plan and (% backbone -oreover0 it has been studied that by increasing the
customer retention by 5%0 profits sho6 an increase of /5% to 100% .o0 the retention of the e+isting
customers by good customer care 7 relationship management is eCually important
+eferences:
-(. reports of *'A 1httpF::666ntagovnp2
-(. reports of *' 1httpF::666ntcnetnp2
-(. reports of (', 1httpF::666ituint2
()' facts and figuresA/01! 1httpF::666ituint2
Wireless Broadband -aster plan for *epalA/01/ 1published by (',A$2
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