By Telecom
Lead Team: State owned fixed and mobile operator Nepal Doorsanchar Company
Limited (Nepal Telecom) has reported a 12.48 percent rise in net profit for its
fiscal year 2010/11 ended Jestha 2068 (June 2011), to NPR12.12 billion
(USD157.5 million), up from NPR10.77 billion in the year-earlier period.
The telco’s
managing director Amar Nath Singh says his company has set a target of NPR31 billion
for pre-tax profit in its current financial year and its first half performance
is in line with its projection.
Figures
published by the regulator, Nepal Telecommunications Authority, in its MIS
Report No. 57 (15 November – 14 December 2011) showed that NT had a total of
766,189 fixed (PSTN + WiLL) subscribers at that date, as well as 6.502 mobile
customers (both GSM and CDMA), 77,737 ADSL connections and 5,464 dial-up
internet users.
Serving the unbanked mobile phone users in South Asia
70 percent
of South Asian population including Nepal market does not have access to
mainstream banking. But mobile penetration has achieved significant
growth. For instance, mobile penetration rate stands at 86.6 percent in
Sri Lanka, the highest in South Asia.
