Broadband subscribers rise to 29.11 million in mid-April

KATHMANDU: Mobile broadband continues to dominate Nepal’s internet landscape, accounting for over 89% of total broadband subscriptions, according to the latest report by the Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA).

As of mid-April, Nepal has 29.11 million broadband subscribers, with mobile broadband (3G and 4G) alone contributing 25.98 million users. Nepal had 29.08 million broad subscribers a month ago, according to NTA – the telecom service regulator.

This includes 14.18 million subscribers from Nepal Doorsanchar Company Ltd, or Nepal Telecom, and 11.8 million from Ncell.

Fixed broadband (wired) services, including FTTH (Fiber to the Home) and ADSL/cable, constitute 10.65% of the market, with 3.1 million subscriptions. FTTH dominates this segment with 3,098,621 connections, primarily driven by Internet Service Providers (ISPs), which account for 2.77 million subscriptions. Fixed broadband (wireless), such as WiFi radio, has a marginal market share of 0.10% with 30,211 subscriptions.

Despite the relatively smaller share, fixed broadband penetration is growing, especially through FTTH services. The data shows that fixed wired broadband now serves an estimated 13.5 million people, or 46.46% of the population, based on the average household size of 4.37 as per the 2021 census.

In contrast, fixed wireless broadband services such as radio-based WiFi account for just 0.10% of total broadband subscriptions, serving around 132,000 people.

Overall, broadband internet penetration in Nepal has reached 136.01%. The total subscriber base of 39.66 million reflects multiple subscriptions per household, pushing the overall broadband penetration beyond Nepal’s population of 29,164,578.