KATHMANDU, Sept 22: Nepal Telecom (NT) has claimed that 62 of 100 voice users in Nepal are its subscribers.
Presenting the progress report of her first year in office in Kathmandu on Friday, Kamini Rajbhandari, managing director of the NT, said that number of NT’s voice users climbed from 53.71 percent to 62.13 percent over the past year.
According to the NT, it has managed to increase the number of subscribers by 17.23 percent to 17.6 million at the end of 20174 BS. At the end of 20173 BS, the operator had 15 million subscribers.
NT claims voice market share of 62%
NT also said that use of data service has increased over the past year. According to the operator, 29.74 percent of its subscribers are using data service as at mid-July, compared to 27.21 percent in mid-July last year. According to Rajbhandari, it had 7.6 million Internet users as at mid-July – a rise of 10.76 percent year-on-year. The operator currently has 8.4 million Internet users.
Total revenue of the company increased by 1.4 percent in Fiscal Year 2016/17. In the fiscal year 2015/16, the company had mobilized total revenue of Rs 44.21 billion, while it did business of Rs 44.83 billion (unaudited) in 2016/17. The company’s net profit also increased in the last fiscal year. In 2016/17, the company earned net profit of Rs 15 billion after tax. According to Rajbhandari, total net profit is 13.11 percent higher compared to Rs 13.27 billion in 2015/16.
She also said that the company has succeeded in reducing expenses, while posting revenue growth. “Our expenditure has come down by 6.24 percent. We spent Rs 24.36 billion in the last fiscal year, compared to Rs 25.98 billion in the previous fiscal year,” Rajbhandari added.
Meanwhile, NT has said that data users in Nepal will be able to enjoy Chinese Internet within a month. “We have completed work to lay down optic fiber,” she said, adding, “We are currently testing the service. Our plan is to launch the service within this month.”
She further added that preparation to invite bids to buy more Internet bandwidth is in the last phase.
NT has signed an agreement with China Telecommunication Company for international Internet service via optical fiber.
Likewise, the ‘WoW Time’ TV streaming app has got more than 50,000 subscribers within three days of its launch, according to the NT.
