NT to raise subscriber base to 13m in 3 years

KATHMANDU, July 14: Nepal Telecom is planning to increase its subscriber base to 13 million by adding at least 5 million new subscribers in the coming three years.



NT Managing Director Amarnath Singh said the largest telecom operator in the country will add subscribers in all its services, including PSTN, GSM and CDMA. The addition of at least 5 million subscribers will enable the country´s largest telecom to command 60 percent share in the country´s telecommunication market. [break]



The state-owned telecom operator at present has 5.45 million subscribers, including 3.96 million GSM users.



Addressing a press meet organized to announce the availability of telecommunication services in all 3,915 village development committees (VDCs) across the country, Singh said NT realized its mission of making telecommunication services available in all VDCs across the country by installing telephone lines through VSAT technology in Sapata VDC of Bajura on July 13.



Surendra Thike, spokesperson of NT, said 199 VDCs across the country are connected to country´s telecommunication network through VSAT technology.



The government had given NT a six-month deadline to provide telecommunication facility in those 199 VDCs.



Shiva Bhushan Lal, director of Satellite Service Directorate at NT, said the VSAT connection was established in close coordination with District Development Committees of the respective districts and NT officials.



Meanwhile, NT Board has approved the proposal of allocating a budget of Rs 48.7 million to implement and execute NT´s ambitious plans in the coming fiscal year. NT is busy expanding its services in sub-urban and rural areas in a bid to add 1.8 million new GSM subscribers in the coming fiscal year.



Singh also assured people in rural areas that the telecommunication giant would provide high quality voice, data and video service from telecommunication technology by installing Next Generation Networks (NGN) technology.



He further said NT would soon expand its 3G capacity to 5 million lines and added that the telecom giant would adopt 4G and 5G technology in the new future.



WiFi facility in 500 places



Nepal Telecom is preparing to provide WiFi internet facility at 500 different places across the country. NT Managing Director Amarnath Singh said they would provide WiFi internet services in busy places like bus stations, public parks and big departmental stores.

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