I may have been writing here & there but its been a while I have been active here. Its always better to be here in my personal blog to write whatever I like. Last
article (not here), I had written about my preference for 4G being a better technology
and the reasons for following the cellular evolution here in Nepal.
While other parts of the world are going through the research,
development and standardization cycle for 5G, Nepal is now in the verge
of accepting 4G technology. This article, I am referring to the survey
result done by Nepalitelecom.com,
that shows the tendency of people for 4G in Nepal. The survey done
during the 4G launch in Nepal, has got responses mainly from the major
cities in Nepal.
From
the survey result, It is interesting to know that the most of the city
dwellers are awaiting 4G in their area. That does not mean there is no demand in other growing areas but it is in the cities that most operators start with. For some, the reasons for not
expecting 4G is due to their doubt for the affordability of the service
and the handsets. The voice service from VoLTE, found to be better
quality than the legacy voice, also seems to allure customers for 4G.
Speed with 4G.
Currently,
the maximum speed of 4G in Kathmandu and Pokhara is up to 30 Mbps speed
with Nepal Telecom. The result shows that 42 percent of the people want 30 Mbps
or more speed. If we see the result other way, more than 90 percent
people now want speed greater than 5 Mbps. This is quite surprising to
know such huge demand of people for the speed.
Price of 4G Handsets
Though
there are quite a lot of ranges for the 4G handsets, their survey
result shows that 43% people can afford Rs 25,000. That is they are most
likely to spend near to Rs 25,000 for a 4G smartphone, which is perfect
price for a mid ranger.
Which 4G data package seems good?
They
also found out out the popular data package in 4G comes at 5GB (with
100 minutes free call) per month. As in India, the voice call with 4G is
free of cost, after subscribing some data packages. The unlimited free
data and calls from Jio is also going to close in the end of March.
Similar will be the case later here in Nepal, for free voice calls. But I
doubt the true unlimited internet with 4G mobile to exist any time
soon.
The
survey result shows, 50% people want more than 2 GB data with 4G. Some
even prefer unlimited internet which they believe can be provided by the
telecom operators but others felt the operators limitation for true
unlimited data service, considering resource restriction, high internet
costs from abroad, high equipment costs and any network error resulting
in worst experience. For the usage of 4G at their home, most people say unlimited 4G internet as the prerequisite. Others
prefer free home device, free local content like videos, songs that can
make 4G alternative to their current home broadband. The survey even
showed the feasibility of providing television service with 4G,
including broadcast or movies on demand.
As
mentioned in the previous article, the latest cellular evolution is
known to include the data connection to almost all devices. For this,
majority of people here expressed their interest to connect home devices
including house hold appliances, if there would be any such technology
here.
Huge demand for 4G
Last time, I had mentioned of the people's eagerness, hesitation to acquire the 4G technology. Nepalitelecom survey
shows the huge demand for 4G in city areas and the feasibility of several other
services including Television in 4G here. This sort of result is likely to encourage operators for
planning and investing more on 4G. This time, one operator
is struggling to get the 4G license and another opting for better use of
the spectrum. Other operators may also join the race but now they are still in infancy state for launching 4G due to insufficient infrastructure. Later the unavoidable competition
will make people adapt to 4G.
If you want to read the whole survey result, do visit here.
