Kathmandu: The number of internet users has skyrocketed after the lockdown. According to the Nepal Telecommunication Authority (NTA), 2 million 68 thousand internet subscribers have been added from last April to November.
Before the lockdown, there were 218.52 million internet subscribers, but now there are 239.21 million. As of last February, the number of fixed line internet users has reached 61.19 million from 5 million 82 thousand.
According to NTA, the number of internet users has increased by 1.037 million in the last eight months. This is the first time that the number of fixed line internet subscribers has increased by more than one million in such a short period.
According to various internet service providers, the number of ‘Fiber to the Home’ (FTTH) users has skyrocketed during this period. The number of such service recipients was 4.138 million last February, now it has increased to 5.217 million.
The fixed line customer of WorldLink Communications, which was 392,000 before the lockdown, has reached 422,000 by mid-November. Nepal Telecom’s 234,000 fixed line customers have also increased to 270,000. Subisu’s 117,000 fixed line customers have increased to 169,000. Waynet’s subscriber base has grown from 133,000 to 123,000.
There are 40 companies providing cable and fiber internet services in the market. Most of the wireless and wireless fixed line service companies have expanded the number of customers during the lockdown period.
On the fixed line, the number of ‘wireless’ internet users has increased by only 2,000. Before the lockdown, the number of people using wireless internet service from Radio WiFi and WiMAX has increased from 224,000 to 226,000.
The number of mobile internet connections is also increasing at a high rate. The number of mobile broadband users has crossed one million in the last eight months. Before the lockdown, there were 16.5 million mobile internet users, now there are more than 17.5 million.
During this period, the number of people leaving 3G internet and going to 4G seems to be large. The number of 3G users has dropped to 15.6 million as of mid-November from 11.5 million before the lockdown. The number of 4G users has increased from 4.8 million to 6.3 million.
Internet service providers say the number of Internet users has skyrocketed since the lockdown period last year. According to the Nepal Telecommunication Authority, more than one million subscribers were added to FTTH in eight months.
Last year, the number of people choosing mobile broadband internet technology is higher. During the epidemic, fiber internet has attracted customers at the same rate as mobile phone users.