Ncell has extended its 4G coverage to 71 districts of the country. Ncell has achieved this high-speed broadband availability using 4G LTE technology after 3 years of its first launch in 2017. The telco has used 1800 MHz spectrum for 4G and expects technology neutrality in 900 MHz spectrum.
Ncell had immediately launched the 4G service after obtaining a license from the regulator, NTA, back in 2017.
Similarly, Ncell 4G has reached 549 local levels out of a total of 753. This shows Ncell covers around 73% of all local levels.
According to Ncell, the six districts that are yet to get 4G coverage are Manang, Jumla, Dolpa, Humla, Kalikot, and Mugu.
Ncell expresses its commitment to nation-building and empowering customers with 4G services so that they are able to take benefits of the LTE technology. For which, Ncell is working to cover all of the remaining 6 districts and 204 local levels.
Ncell has around 3300 4G BTS to cover the 71 districts. They will need plenty of more such base stations to cover all parts of the country.
As per Ncell, the spectrum plays a vital role in expanding mobile networks to rural areas. It is due to the reason that the lower the operational frequency band, the higher will be the coverage. That makes the lower band spectrum idle for expansion in rural areas with a lot of vegetation and uneven terrain.
Ncell expects the technology-neutral spectrum in 900 MHz that could enable them to further expand their 4G network, which is quite feasible technically and commercially for them. The request of Ncell to get the technology neutrality license in 900 MHz has already reached the Radio Frequency allocation committee, which will decide on the matter.
Earlier NTA had announced a spectrum auction in the remaining frequency of 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, and 2100 MHz. Out of which, Ncell has already received additional 5 MHz to make a contiguous 20 MHz bandwidth in 1800 MHz. But the spectrum auction in the 900 MHz and 2100 MHz is still in limbo.
Source: https://www.nepalitelecom.com/2020/10/ncell-4g-coverage-71-districts-900mhz-spectrum.html