Changes: Nepal

Revision as of 12:15, 2 March 2015

Basics

Nepal has two mobile operators:

Ncell (owned by Swedish/Finnish TeliaSonera)
Nepal Telecom (state owned)

Given its mountainous territory, coverage can be very spotty and slow outside the Kathmandu valley.

Ncell

Ncell by TeliaSonera has become market leader in Nepal and was renamed 2010 from Mero Mobile. Its 2G is on 900 and 1800 Mhz and reaches 90% of population, 3G is on 2100 Mhz in the 20 biggest towns. Ncell Coverage Map

Availability

Ncell SIM cards are bought from a number of street stores, and require a passport photocopy (which the vendor will make) and a passport photo (which you bring). Some stores also take two thumbprints on the application form. Ncell Store Locators

The price for starter pack is Rs.99 with Rs.50 of credit and 60 domestic texts, 40 domestic minutes and 20 MB of data You can purchase top-up scratch cards from Rs.10. For top-ups over Rs. 100, you get 5-12% bonus on top. They have two tariff lines for prepaid called Sajilo and Ramro, which doesn't make a difference for data.

Default tariff outside of package is Rs.6 per MB, so get a pack. Activating prepaid data by typing the USSD code *17123# and <call>.

NOTE: price listed, like ones listed in store, are exclusive of taxes, which is 13% plus. So for example to get a 1GB data pack you actually need 699*1.13=789.87NPR credit to be able to activate it. Also strangely the recharge cards sold in shops (in amount of 50, 100, 200, 500 NPR) don't give you the full amount, again due to some tax reasons, so you actually get something like 49.02 NPR credit for the 50 NPR recharge card.

Remaining balance check: USSD *101#, which shows your account balance, and an SMS telling your remaining data.

More Info

APN: web
Website: http://www.ncell.com.np

Nepal Telecom (NTC)

Nepal Telecom NTC logo

Nepal Telecom is the state owned, national provider in Nepal. It has a monopoly on landlines and ISDN, but competes with Ncell for mobile customers. NTC uses 900 Mhz for 2G and 2100 Mhz for 3G. Simultanously, it runs a CDMA network too. GSM- Coverage is worse than Ncell and 3G is only available in Kathmandu and Pokhara so far: 3G Coverage List

Availability

Their prepaid card is called "Namaste" (Welcome). It is available in their stores and sales outlets for Rs. 200. It contains a welcome letter with SIM serial number, Mobile phone number, PIN/PUK numbers and security cod, an User's Guide and the Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card with Rs. 100 airtime.

Your "Namaste" account is instantly activated when you make your first call. Either you can dial 1414 or any other number for the first call. Your first call will be diverted to NEPAL TELECOM Management Centre and you will hear voice prompt from our system. Along with the "Namaste" service information, you will be given the option of choosing the language (English or Nepali) at this time. Make choice according to your need. After the release of this call you can use the "Namaste" service.

Recharge cards are available in five denominations of RS. 50, Rs. 100, Rs. 200, Rs.500 and Rs.1000 giving 60 days to 2 years validity.

Default data rate

NTC doesn't sell data packages so far. Their default prepaid data rate is Rs. 0.10 per 100 kB. So you might think twice of using this operator for data.

More Info

APN: ntnet

Website: http://www.ntc.net.np/tariff/mob_3g_tariff.php

@@ Line 14: / Line 14: @@
 The price for starter pack is Rs.99 with Rs.50 of credit and 60 domestic texts, 40 domestic minutes and 20 MB of data You can purchase top-up scratch cards from Rs.10. For top-ups over Rs. 100, you get 5-12% bonus on top. They have two tariff lines for prepaid called Sajilo and Ramro, which doesn't make a difference for data.
-Default tariff outside of package is Rs.6 per MB, so get a pack. Activating prepaid data by typing the USSD code *17123# and <call>
+Default tariff outside of package is Rs.6 per MB, so get a pack. Activating prepaid data by typing the USSD code *17123# and <call>.
-[[File:Ncell packs.jpg|none|thumb|566x566px]]
+[[File:Ncell packs-0.jpg|none|thumb|566x566px]]
 NOTE: price listed, like ones listed in store, are exclusive of taxes, which is 13% plus. So for example to get a 1GB data pack you actually need 699*1.13=789.87NPR credit to be able to activate it. Also strangely the recharge cards sold in shops (in amount of 50, 100, 200, 500 NPR) don't give you the full amount, again due to some tax reasons, so you actually get something like 49.02 NPR credit for the 50 NPR recharge card.