Overview

Telecommunications services have experienced significant growth over the last decade.  Currently, three main companies provide telephone services in Nepal, with the government-owned Nepal Telecom (NT) and Malaysian-owned NCell as the biggest operators.  A fourth operator (CG Services) is attempting to enter the market.  Both NT and NCell are expanding their geographical reach and range of services and offer equipment sales potential.  Business opportunities exist for equipment sales, network installation, and laying fiber optic cable.  Additionally, NCell is investing millions of dollars per year to upgrade its infrastructure, however, equipment sales with after-sale service are a prerequisite for the project.  Local microwave and cable TV services depend on U.S. firms for much of their equipment, as do Nepal’s 30 cable TV networks.

Exports/Imports of Telecommunications Equipment (U. S. $ thousands)

(total market size = (total local production + imports) - exports)

Leading Sub-Sectors

Satellite services for phone and Internet
Fiber optic cables
VHF radio, transmitter, and other equipment

Opportunities

The number of cellular mobile subscribers has increased from 243,579 in January 2005 to over 39 million by April 2019.  Nepal’s population is approximately 28 million, meaning there are 1.4 mobile subscriptions for every Nepali citizen.  Chinese companies have won bids to supply technology and equipment to the two leading Nepali cellular telephone operators (NT and NCell), but the expanding mobile phone market offers additional possibilities for U.S. companies. 

Resources

United States International Trade Commission

Trade and Economic Promotion Center, Nepal

Ministry of Information & Communications, Nepal

Nepal Telecommunications Authority, Nepal

Nepal Telecom Company Limited, Nepal

Smart Telecom Pvt Ltd.