Internet base slips to 7.59 million

The internet subscriber base in the country has slipped to 7.59 million in mid-December from 7.66 million a month earlier, according to the Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA).

The internet penetration rate has also dropped slightly to 28.63 per cent, it said, adding that Ncell has 3.58 million mobile internet (GPRS, Edge, WCDMA) users, up from 3.80 million in mid-November and UTL's EV-DO mobile internet base stood at 99,265, unchanged from a month earlier.
Likewise, Nepal Telecom's total internet base stood at 3.68 million, the same as in November. NT's dial-up base fell to 4,756 from 4,765 but its ADSL base was up at 121,279 versus 106,970 in November.

Nepal Telecom also served 3.54 million mobile internet subscribers, up from 3.43 million, and 136,573 EV-DO subscribers, the same as reported a month ago. The company further reported 6,049 customers for its new Wimax service, up from 5,382 a month earlier. Other ISPs served 97,691 internet customers through dial-up (10,197), wireless and fibre (63,040) and cable modem (24,454). Other ISPs connected 89,216 internet subscribers last month.