Nepal Telecom (NTC) has been expanding its 4G LTE network all over Nepal since October 2019. Although there was a slowdown in the expansion efforts due to Covid-19 for two years, 4G coverage has surpassed 98 percent at local levels, covering all 77 districts with over 4000 4G towers. As per the latest info revealed by the company, Nepal Telecom 4G has reached 739 local bodies around the country.
Out of the 753 local levels, Nepal Telecom 4G signal is now available in 739 local bodies which are 98 percent with only 14 remaining away from its high-speed broadband benefits. The telco has taken been very active in 4G expansion in recent years and 2078 was seen as a major achievement for the company for taking its fourth-generation network to remote areas across Nepal.
As the telco continues rolling out 4G to more areas and subscribers are also on the rise, it aims to be the number one 4G service provider in the country by coverage, subscription, and quality.
Nepal Telecom (Ntc) started 4G service back in 2017 from Kathmandu and Pokhara only, being the first telecom service provider to launch 4G in Nepal. With a new 4G project deal inked in February 2019, Nepal Telecom imported the telecom equipment, build the required infrastructure, and expanded 4G coverage to more areas. During the soft launch of 4G outside Kathmandu, its coverage was made available to 36 districts. The then prime minister KP Oli inaugurated 4G officially on October 3, 2019 (Ashoj, 16, 2076).
Within 3 months of the new 4G expansion project, the company brought over 1000 base stations live in 60+ districts. The NTC 4G project has a capacity of 65 lakh subscribers and it cost Rs 19 billion which makes it one of the company’s largest projects to date.
Currently, they have already on-aired over 4000 4G physical sites, which is over 96 percent of the total project. Similarly, they have on-aired over 450 new 4G sites. NT shared the data on its 18th-anniversary program in Kathmandu on Magh 22, 2078.
Earlier, the expansion was going smoothly despite the difficult terrain, adverse weather, and other circumstances. But the COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdown slowed down the 4G roll-out.
With the expansion of the 4G network to a huge area and the COVID-19 pandemic, a huge population has been using Nepal Telecom 4G network. Ntc 4G subscription has now crossed 1.15 crore (10.5 million) which is a significant increment in the post-pandemic.
Nepal Telecom 4G is getting popular among people, which is also possible due to the network expansion to more parts of the country and their marketing efforts in distributing free SIM cards.
Nepal Telecom has been using two different spectrum bands for the 4G LTE network which are 1800 MHz and 800 MHz. We suggest you check for the support of these bands if you want to use Ntc 4G in all locations. We had already posted an article about it and more for the things to check before buying a 4G phone in Nepal.
The 800 MHz spectrum having a higher coverage is preferred for remote locations where the number of 4G base stations is limited. So, if your phone supports this band, you will get a better signal even if you go to a remote area. As 1800MHz serves you well in built-up areas, it should not be an issue in outdoor city areas. But two bands provide better signal reception indoors and a higher speed with the carrier aggregation feature.
As demonstrated during the 4G launch event back in October, Nepal Telecom’s 4G speed went up to 234 Mbps download and 24 Mbps uplink. Nepal Telecom claims it to be 4.5G technology with such a gigantic peak speed. We should not be confused here as all the customers served by a tower will share that connection. So, a customer gets around 20 – 50 Mbps average speed for download depending on the condition as shared with us by several users.
Source: https://www.nepalitelecom.com/ntc-nepal-telecom-4g-coverage