20 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK

Information technology, especially with mobile phones, have changed dramatically in the last two decades, even as the main actors and malaise in Nepali politics remain the same.

Back in 2001, the still not privatised Nepal Telecommunication Corporation (NTC) had a monopoly in the telephony market and limited subscribers. On the other hand, the Khetan Group was gearing up to offer its services.

20 years later today, the mobile market has grown exponentially with multiple service providers at play. A Sharecast Initiative Nepal Media Survey this year showed that, 96% of Nepali households have mobile phones (2.5 devices per home), 61.5% of them smartphones. 

Close to 23 million of Nepal’s population have access to the Internet and some 60% of them are using mobile data. 3G and 4G services are widespread. Nine million Nepalis are on Facebook and 60% of mobile users are hooked up on YouTube.

Excerpt from Binod Bhattarai’s report from #39 20-26 April 2001 20 years ago this week:

NTC began its mobile services two years ago with 17 base stations. Problems with accessing the network emerged quickly as subscriptions crossed the initially planned 5,000 connections for the Valley. NTC now has over 11,500 mobile users in Kathmandu Valley, which was why the seven new base stations have to be built.

But NTC needs to hurry now that competition is snapping at its heels. The Khetan Group has a business plan ready and is awaiting approval of a new joint venture it is forming to handle its mobiles.

NTC hopes to connect all the new towns along the highways within a year—and highways by another year and half. This means that anywhere you are on the highways you’ll be close enough to a base station—that would cover 40- 90 km depending on terrain—to be connected all the time. The time- frame looks promising, but the NTC’s deadlines could change depending on how soon the bids are finalised and how long it takes the government—which is prone to delaying decisions—to select the bids and sign the contracts.

Till NTC is privatised, this is going to be a battle of two titans: one private the other public sector. And the prize is the huge mobile market. Collections in January- February this year alone was Rs 380 million. With more connections and right pricing, this is bound to increase. Common economic sense says there will be a downward revision in prices even before Khetan enters the market— provided, of course, the rest of the government sees reason, like certain sections within NTC do.

 

From archives material of Nepali Times of the past
20 years, site search:  www.nepalitimes.com 

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