Nepal Telecom

Nepal Saar Doorsanchar Company Ltd. (नेपाल दूरसञ्चार कम्पनी लिममटेड), popularly known as Nepal Telecom (NTCनेपाल टेलिकम) or NTC, is a state-owned telecommunications service provider in Nepal with 91.488% of the government share. The company was a monopoly until 2003, when the first private sector operator, United Telecom Limited (UTL), started providing basic telephony services. The central office of Nepal Telecom is best known for located at Bhadrakali Plaza, Kathmandu. It has branches, exchanges and other offices in 184 locations within the country.

It is the sole provider of fixed-line, ISDN and leased-line services in Nepal. Following the entry of Ncell (previously called Mero Mobile) into Nepal's telecommunications industry in 2005, it is no longer the only provider of GSM mobile service. With more than 5,400 employees, it is one of the largest corporations in Nepal. It has a total of 262 telephone exchanges in various parts of the country, serving 603,291 PSTN lines, more than 5 million GSM cellular phones and more than a million CDMA phone lines as of July 2011.

According to recent data, there are about 20 million users of Nepal Telecom, including all those with fixed landlines, GSM mobile, CDMA, and internet service. Nepal Telecom launched 4G LTE service on January 1, 2017. It is the first operator to provide 4G LTE service in Nepal on a technology-neutral frequency band of 1800 MHz as standard for 4G in Nepal. To date, 4G is available in all seven provinces in Nepal. In July 2019, Nepal Telecom successfully tested VoLTE service for the first time in Nepal, and it will be available for users starting May 17, 2021. According to the MIS report published by the Nepal Telecommunication Authority at April 2019, Nepal Telecom had the largest cable internet subscribers, hovering at 211,513 and covering 84% of the cable internet market. Similarly, Nepal Telecom, being the sole provider of WiMAX, had 87,977 subscribers by the end of April 2019. On October 2, 2019, Nepal Telecom expanded its 4G service to 60 cities of 37 districts, which was inaugurated by the then Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli.

History
According to the Government of Nepal's Fourth Plan, telecommunications service were first constructed in Nepal in the year 1912 with a service between Kathmandu and Cobson, Raxaul, India. A 110-kilometer line between the two locations was put into service in 1914. A 518km line between Kathmandu and Dhankuta was constructed in 1936, and Palpa was connected to Kathmandu with a 240km telephone line. In 1935, the installation of 25 'automatic' telephone lines in Kathmandu. Almost two decades later, in 1953, Palpa and Bhairahawa were connected. Dhulikhel were connected with Kathmandu with a 29km line. An exchange called Central Battery (CB) was installed in 1950, and for the first time, telecommunication service was opened to the public. The exchange capacity was increased to 300 in 1957.

Wireless service first started in Nepal in 1950 with service to Kathmandu, Bhairahawa, Illam, Dhankuta, and Biratnagar. 1952 saw the expansion of service to Doti, Dang, Jumla, Dailekh, Sallyan, Okhaldhunga, and Rajbiraj. Servers to Jaleshwar, Ramechhap, Bandipur, Terathum, Taplejung, Dandeldhura, and Baitadi were added later. Sub-stations were also set up in Baglung, Palpa, and Dhangadi in 1952. Similarly, new stations were added in Pokhara, Bhojpur, and Birgunj. Initially, the Department of Communications oversaw the postal service and Telecommunications, together. However, 1959 saw the creation of a separate Department of Telecommunication.

Nepal Telecom was legally founded as a fully owned Government Corporation called Nepal Telecommunications Corporation in 2032 B.S for the goal of offering telecommunications services after the adoption of the Communications Corporation Act 2028. Moreover, Nepal Telecommunication Corporation was turned into Nepal Doorsanchar Company Limited (NDCL) on Baisakh 1, 2061, after serving the people for 29 years.

The Nepal Saar Doorsanchar Company Limited was incorporated under the Companies Act of 2053. Although, the company's registered trademark "Nepal Sr. Telecom-NT" or "Nepal Saar Telecommunication Corporation-NTC" is well known among the general population. This is where Nepal Telecom's tale starts.

After 2060 B.C., Nepal Telecom began offering GSM (Global System for Mobile Communication) services to the entire population. In addition to GSM, Nepal Telecom offers CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access), EVDO, ADL, ADSL, FTTH, and other services.

Nepal Telecom continues to upgrade its services, providing the most up-to-date services ranging from early GPRS, HSDPA, 3G, and now 4G/LTE. Nepal Telecom has also begun a 5G trial in Kathmandu, Pokhara, Birgunj, which is still limited to internal testing.

As a public business, Nepal Telecom is solely responsible for providing services to all parts of Nepal. They offer services in rural parts where other operators have failed to uphold their responsibility to their community.

Services

 * Leased line
 * Basic Telephony
 * ISDN
 * GSM Cellular Telephony
 * Email
 * Internet Leased Line
 * Payphone
 * CDMA Network as SkyPhone (scheduled for discontinuation)
 * Wireless Loop Link
 * CDMA EV-DO
 * 3G, HSDPA
 * 4G LTE
 * Intelligent Network
 * Voice Mail
 * GPRS Service
 * MMS
 * Digital Data Network
 * ADSL
 * Microsoft mobile services Negrolink 2.4 Ghz Wifi Throttling Technology
 * WiMAX
 * MPOS
 * WiFi Hotspot
 * Fiber to the Home (FTTH)
 * eSIM
 * Wireless Broad-Band (Namaste Wi-Fi)