Mobile phone users growing by 10 people everyday

Almost 10 people are getting the mobile phone facility in a day, according to Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA) report.
The number of mobile phone users increased by 1.5 million — an increment of 13 per cent — in last six months, the latest Management Information System (MIS) report of the Authority stated, adding that the number of mobile phone users stood at 12.5 million by mid-October while by mid-May 11 million individuals had subscribed for mobile phones.
Along with increased number of mobile users, the overall telephony penetration rate has also increased by over 10 percentage points to 53.50 per cent from six months ago's 43.65 per cent. The telephony rate included all three kinds of available telephone service; fixed, mobile, limited mobility services.
Though, the mobile users have continually grown lately the number of landline users have contracted by 1.24 per cent in recent six months. At present there are about 843,847 fixed landline users while six months ago there were 845,657 fixed landlines.
Telephony penetration rate refers to percentage of active phone numbers within the specific population. However, within the growing number of people with two-three SIM cards of different carriers the right assessment of telephony penetration rate has become difficult to assess entirely based on active number of SIMs.
The regulator's report also revealed that Nepal Telecom (NT) is losing its market share to its prime competition Ncell. Nepal Telecom covered 52 per cent of the market by mid-May, which has come down to 49 per cent as Ncell's market share has crept up as Nepal Telecom's market share waned.
Ncell gained 45 per cent market shares by mid-October which stood at 42 per cent six months ago. UTL and other telecommunication service provider's market scenario did not change during the period.
Similarly, the consumers of data and internet services have crossed 3.6 million, according to the report. "The users of data and internet services were 3.2 million until previous month."
The internet users via GPRS available in the mobile phones dominated the internet usage as 91 per cent of total internet penetration can be accounted for GPRS. Likewise, among the internet users, Ncell tops the list of internet service providers with 59 per cent of domination in the market followed by Nepal Telecom with 38 per cent market share in internet subscription with its GPRS, ADSL, Dial-Up and CDMA services.


The Telephony Penetration Rate
Mobile: 47.38
Fixed:3.16 Others:2.9