“As the new technologies are user friendly and easy to install, users of old technology, like dial-up, are fast migrating to new technologies,” said Binaya Bohara, president of Internet Service Providers Association of Nepal (ISPAN). [break]
Most of the ISPs have stopped providing dial-up Internet service, which was the most dependable Internet service until a year ago.
“The dial-up technology will completely disappear in a few years as many advanced technologies are available in the market,” Suman Lal Pradhan, CEO of WebSurfer, said, adding that ISPs are making a huge investment on new technologies.
WebSufer, which has providing Internet service for the past 11 years, will not be expanding the dial-up service from now on. The company has started providing Internet service through optical fiber.
Likewise, Vianet Communications is discontinuing its dial-up service from the coming month.
The users of Nepal Telecom, the state-owned telecom operator, are also interested in new technologies. “Our dial-up users started declining after we introduced ADSL Internet service,” Guna Keshari Pradhan, spokesperson for Nepal Telecom, said. “Customers are always looking for new technology.”
Pradhan further said the WiMax Internet service, which was launched for home users on Thursday, is attracting interest of many people.
Nepal Telecom has 2.8 million Internet users at present.
The latest data of Nepal Telecom Authority (NTA) also shows the number of dial-up Internet has gone down lately. The number of dial-up Internet users went down by more than 3,000 over the past year.
According to NTA, 22.23 percent of the population is using Internet -- most of them through their mobile phones - as at mid-February, up from 15.75 percent till mid- February last year.
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