By A Staff Reporter
Kathmandu, Nov. 9: Subscribers of broadband Internet service have reached 22,879,727 by mid-September 2020. According to the MIS report of Nepal Telecommunication Authority (NTA), this number was 76.58 per cent of the total population at that time as estimated by the Central Bureau of Statistics.
The MIS report further revealed that the number of subscribers of broadband service had increased by 17 percentage points in between mid-September 2019 and mid-September 2020.
By mid-September 2019, the number of subscribers of broadband service was 19,540,873, which was only 66.21 per cent of the total estimated population at that time.
Of the total subscribers of broadband service, the market share of mobile broadband is 74 per cent while that of wired and wireless fixed broadband is 24 per cent and 1 per cent respectively.
During the period of one year, the access of people to mobile broadband service has increased to 56.42 per cent from 51.38 per cent. During the same period, the subscription of fixed wired broadband has increased to 19.40 per cent of the total population from 14.02 per cent The number of 4G subscribers has increased to 5,516,454 from 4,355,625 a year ago.
Of the total market of broadband service, Nepal Telecom has the highest shares of 50 per cent followed by Ncell which shares 28.8 per cent of the total market of broadband service.
Nepal Telecom (NT), the government-owned telecommunication service provider, is providing broadband service through mobile broadband (3G, 4G, EVDO) and wired and wireless fixed-line while Ncell is providing mobile broadband (3G and 4G) only. Based on subscription, Internet service providers (ISPs) share only 20.8 per cent of total broadband service in the country. ISPs are providing wired and wireless fixed-line broadband service.
Due to online classes in schools and colleges and the increasing trend of working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic, the subscription of both mobile and fixed broadband
has increased significantly in the recent past.
ISPs have informed that uses of Internet bandwidth had increased exponentially after the imposition of lockdown to combat the spread of coronavirus.