Ncell’s subscriber base touches 5m mark
The subscriber base of Ncell, first private sector mobile service provider in Nepal, has hit the 5 million mark. The number of Ncell subscribers more than doubled over the last year, according to the company.
The company that is facing stiff competition from state-owned Nepal Telecom has been adding subscribers aggressively after its re-branding from Mero Mobile to Ncell in March last year. It is eyeing the number one position in the GSM segment with an additional investment of $100 million for the current year.
“Our subscriber base has surpassed the 5 million mark and we are very glad to have reached this position and understand the responsibility it brings along,” said Ncell CEO Pasi Koistinen. He was confident that Ncell would reach the top position soon.
Ncell Corporate Communication Manager Sanju Koirala said innovative offers provided to customers after the re-branding has been attracting more customers.
Ncell has posted a strong intake during the first quarter of the current fiscal in the Eurasia market of the TeliaSonera, which holds 80 percent stake in Ncell. The Eurasia market comprises Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Georgia, Moldova and Nepal.
According to TeliaSonera’s press release issued on Tuesday, as of the first quarter of the last fiscal, there were 2.36 million subscribers of Ncell. The number increased to 4.78 million in March and 5 million in April.
“The Eurasia continues to be the growth engine and in the first quarter we surpassed the 30 million subscriptions in our consolidated operations due to a continued strong intake in Nepal, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan,” reads the release. Nepal, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan showed the largest rises, increasing the number of subscriptions by 0.7 million, 0.5 million and 0.4 million, respectively.
“Ncell in Nepal has in one year more than doubled its subscription base and reached 5 million subscriptions in April,” reads the release. The release added that net sales in Nepal almost doubled with a growth of 98.8 percent to Rs 4.61 billion.
Ncell began offering GSM mobile service in Nepal in 2005 with the brand name Mero Mobile. In the Eurasia market of TeliaSonera the number of subscriptions in the consolidated operations was 30.3 million, an increase of 7.3 million since the end of the first quarter of 2010. The growth was the strongest in Nepal, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, with a rise of 2.4 million, 2.2 million and 1.9 million subscriptions to 4.8 million, 7.3 million and 9.4 million, respectively. Ncell attributes the surge in the subscriber base to its efforts of expanding network and improving quality. With Ncell growing aggressively, Nepal Telecom is also going to distribute 0.6 million GSM SIM cards within three months and call a global tender to add 6-10 million new subscribers in next fiscal.
As of the first eight months (Mid-July to mid-March.) of the current fiscal year, Nepal Telecom has a subscriber base of 4.8 million in GSM service.
Posted on: 2011-04-20 09:15
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