Ncell

Last updated • 3 min readFrom Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia

Ncell Axiata Limited
Company type Public
Industry Telecommunications
Founded2004;20 years ago (2004)
Headquarters
Lainchaur, Kathmandu
Area served
 Nepal
Products Mobile Telephony, GSM, GPRS, EDGE, 3G, 4G,5g HSPA+, DC-HSDPA
Number of employees
500+ (as of 2021)
Parent Spectrlite UK Limited (80%) [1]
Website www.ncell.com.np

Ncell (Nepali : एनसेल) is a mobile service provider from Nepal. It is Nepal's largest company in terms of revenue market share and second largest telecommunications company, after Nepal Telecom in terms of subscriber base.

Contents

The company was founded in 2004 when there was only one major telecom operator at the time, Nepal Telecom. Nepal Telecom had been providing PSTN and GSM services. Investing in telecommunications and competing with governmental agencies was a major risk at the time. With the entry of Ncell, the Nepali telecommunications sector progressed due to greater competition in the market.

History

Nepal's first private mobile operator, Spice Nepal Private Limited, was founded in 2004. [2] The company introduced its commercial services as Mero Mobile on 17 September 2005 in Kathmandu. [2]

Swedish telecommunications company and mobile network operator TeliaSonera bought a controlling interest in the company in October 2008. [2]

Spice Nepal was renamed Ncell on 12 March 2010 as part of the acquisition [2] and TeliaSonera invested approximately 1 billion dollars in the improvement and coverage of the network.[ citation needed ] Ncell had reached all areas of Nepal by 2010 and had launched 3G services by the end of the year. Ncell also constructed the east-west fiber link connectivity during this time, which was necessary to support the data and voice traffic across the country.[ citation needed ]

It was announced on 21 December 2015 that TeliaSonera took exit from Ncell by selling its 60.4 percent stake in the company to the Malaysian telecommunications group Axiata. [3] On June 1, 2017, the company began providing 4G/LTE service in the Kathmandu Valley, including Nagarkot, Banepa, and Dhulikhel in the Kavrepalanchowk district.[ citation needed ] Ncell has expanded its 4G/LTE coverage covering 90 percent of total population. [4] Ncell became a public limited company on 3 August 2020, and its name was changed to Ncell Axiata Limited. [5]

Ncell parent company Axiata left the company in 2023, the parent company has been reporting the downturn of revenues from Ncell and that seems to be the main reason for its exit.[ citation needed ]

On December 1, 2023, the United Kingdom-based Spectrlite UK Limited acquired 100 percent shares of Reynolds Holdings Limited from Axiata UK of Axiata Group Berhad. [6] Reynolds previously owned an 80 percent equity stake in Ncell. With Spectrlite UK Limited, Ncell has become a 100 percent Nepali-origin, owned company.

Technology

On 1 June 2017, Ncell launched its 4G/LTE service in Kathmandu Valley (including the areas of Nagarkot, Banepa and Dhulikhel of Kavrepalanchowk district). A month later, the company launched 4G/LTE service in Pokhara and Damauli (two western cities of Nepal). As of December 2021, Ncell expanded 4G/LTE service ensuring access to over 75% of total population, covering all seven Nepali provinces. [7] In a bid to implement a next-generation billing system, Ncell adopted Alibaba's Apsara Cloud for its digital strategy. [8]

In 2010, when Ncell was still owned by TeliaSonera, its highest 3G base station was built near one of the Everest Base Camps at an altitude of 5,200 meters (17,000 feet). [9]

Ncell provides a self-service app which is relied upon by a majority of users. By installing the Ncell app, customers can recharge their account, check balance information, and purchase data/voice packs. The app can be also used to send 10 free SMS messages daily; however, data charges may apply if the app is used outside of Nepal.[ citation needed ]

See also

Related Research Articles

Nepal's telecommunication network has increased over the years significantly, with the number of telephone users reaching 40,789,198 as of 14 May 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Telia Company</span> Swedish multinational telecommunication provider

Telia Company AB is a Swedish multinational telecommunications company and mobile network operator present in Sweden, Finland, Norway, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">3G</span> Third generation of wireless mobile telecommunications technology

3G is the third generation of wireless mobile telecommunications technology. It is the upgrade to 2G, 2.5G, GPRS and 2.75G Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution networks, offering faster data transfer, and better voice quality. This network was superseded by 4G, and later by 5G. This network is based on a set of standards used for mobile devices and mobile telecommunications services and networks that comply with the International Mobile Telecommunications-2000 (IMT-2000) specifications set by the International Telecommunication Union. 3G is used in wireless voice telephony, mobile Internet access, fixed wireless Internet access, video calls and mobile TV.

4G is the fourth generation of broadband cellular network technology, succeeding 3G and preceding 5G. A 4G system must provide capabilities defined by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in IMT Advanced. Potential and current applications include amended mobile web access, IP telephony, gaming services, high-definition mobile TV, video conferencing, and 3D television.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">M1 (Singaporean company)</span> Telecommunication company in Singapore

M1 Limited is a telecommunications company based in Singapore. Founded in 1994, M1 was listed on the Singapore Exchange from 2002 to 2019. The company is a subsidiary of Keppel Ltd.

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

Xfera Móviles, S.A.U., d/b/a Yoigo, is the fourth-largest mobile network operator in Spain and a subsidiary of the Spanish telecommunications company Grupo MásMóvil, a subsidiary of MásOrange. Yoigo has a licence and its own cellular network for GSM/2G, UMTS/3G and LTE/4G technologies, and a national roaming agreement for usage of the 2G, 3G and 4G networks of Orange and Movistar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Telia Lietuva</span>

Telia Lietuva, a member of Telia Company group, is one of the largest telecommunication companies in the Baltic States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dialog Axiata</span> Sri Lankan telecommunications company

Dialog Axiata PLC, is one of Sri Lanka's largest telecommunications service providers, and the country's largest mobile network operator with over 17 million subscribers which amounts to 57% of the Sri Lankan mobile market. Dialog is a subsidiary of Axiata Group Berhad which owns 73.75% controlling stake of the company, while Bharti Airtel owns 10.36%.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dhulikhel</span> Municipality in Kavrepalanchowk District of Nepal

Dhulikhel is a municipality in Kavrepalanchok District of Nepal. Two major highways, the B.P. Highway and the Araniko Highway pass through Dhulikhel. Araniko Highway connects Kathmandu, Nepal's capital city with Tibet's border town of Kodari. Dhulikhel is located at the Eastern rim of Kathmandu Valley, south of the Himalayas at 1550m above sea level and is situated 30 km southeast of Kathmandu and 74 km southwest of Kodari. The Majority of people in Dhulikhel are Newars, and Brahmin, Chhettri, Tamang and Dalit are also living in outer area of the town. Drinking water in Dhulikhel is some of the best water in Nepal. It was made with the help of the German NGO German Technical Cooperation.

Azercell is an Azerbaijani telecommunications company based in Baku. It is the largest mobile network operator in Azerbaijan. The company is owned by the ruling Aliyev family through offshore companies. In 2008, state shares were transferred to the Aliyev family's companies at a massive discount, effectively costing Azerbaijan's people at least $600 million.

Moldcell is a Moldovan mobile network operator and is a subsidiary of Nepalese company CG Corp Global. It works in GSM, UMTS and LTE standards.

Kavre Nitya Chandeswori popularly known as "Kavre" is a village development committee in Kavrepalanchok District in the Bagmati Zone of central Nepal. Two of its V.D.C's are included in Dhulikhel Municipality in the year 2015 A.D. At the time of the 2011 Nepal census it had a population of 4,927 in 1,042 individual households.

In telecommunications, long-term evolution (LTE) is a standard for wireless broadband communication for mobile devices and data terminals, based on the GSM/EDGE and UMTS/HSPA standards. It improves on those standards' capacity and speed by using a different radio interface and core network improvements. LTE is the upgrade path for carriers with both GSM/UMTS networks and CDMA2000 networks. Because LTE frequencies and bands differ from country to country, only multi-band phones can use LTE in all countries where it is supported.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MTC Namibia</span> Namibian telecommunications company

Mobile Telecommunications Limited (MTC) is a mobile telecommunications company and internet service provider in Namibia. It is the largest mobile carrier in Namibia with over two million active subscribers. MTC was established in 1995 and was the only cellular provider in Namibia at that time. Today, its competitors in Namibia are TN Mobile and Telecom Namibia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Axiata</span> Malaysian multinational telecommunications company

Axiata Group Berhad, is a Malaysian multinational telecommunications conglomerate with extensive operations in Asia.

3G mobile telephony was relatively slow to be adopted globally. In some instances, 3G networks do not use the same radio frequencies as 2G so mobile operators must build entirely new networks and license entirely new frequencies, especially so to achieve high data transmission rates. Other delays were due to the expenses of upgrading transmission hardware, especially for UMTS, whose deployment required the replacement of most broadcast towers. Due to these issues and difficulties with deployment, many carriers delayed acquisition of these updated capabilities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Airtel India</span> Indian telecommunications company

Airtel India is the second largest provider of mobile telephony and third largest provider of fixed telephony in India, and is also a provider of broadband and subscription television services. The brand is operated by several subsidiaries of Bharti Airtel, with Bharti Hexacom and Bharti Telemedia providing broadband fixed line services and Bharti Infratel providing telecom passive infrastructure service such as telecom equipment and telecom towers. Currently, Airtel provides 5G, 4G and 4G+ services all over India. Currently offered services include fixed-line broadband, and voice services depending upon the country of operation. Airtel had also rolled out its VoLTE technology across all Indian telecom circles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Idea Cellular</span> Former Indian telecommunications company

Idea Cellular was an Indian telecommunications company based at Mumbai, Maharashtra. It was an integrated GSM operator and had 220.00 million subscribers as of June 2018.

References

  1. ↑ "Axiata concludes sale of Ncell, exits Nepal". The Kathmandu Post. 2 December 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Axiata take charge of Ncell from TeliaSonera". The Kathmandu Post . 13 April 2016. Retrieved 30 October 2024.
  3. ↑ "TeliaSonera quits nepal, Ncell sold to Malaysian Telco group Axiata for 1.03Bil USD". TechSansar. 21 December 2015. Retrieved 30 October 2024.
  4. ↑ "Ncell Timeline History-Company profile from Mero Mobile". TelecomKhabar. 12 June 2019.
  5. ↑ "Company Profile". Ncell . Retrieved 30 October 2024.
  6. ↑ "Spectrlite UK Buys Axiata's Ncell Shares for $50 Million". NepaliTelecom. 1 December 2023. Retrieved 30 October 2024.
  7. ↑ "Ncell Timeline History-Company profile from Mero Mobile". TelecomKhabar. 12 June 2019. Archived from the original on 17 July 2019. Retrieved 17 July 2019.
  8. ↑ "Ncell adopts Alibaba's Apsara Cloud for Digital strategy". NepaliTelecom. 10 September 2019. Archived from the original on 31 October 2019. Retrieved 31 October 2019.
  9. ↑ "3G network brings internet to Mount Everest climbers". BBC News. 29 October 2010. Archived from the original on 3 August 2017. Retrieved 3 August 2017.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.