Telecom Service Comparison Between NTC and Ncell
The smartphone market in Nepal has seen an exponential growth in users in recent years. To attract a mass of these consumers, all the network service providers have begun pushing their 4G plans into action more aggressively. For us end consumers, though, this fierce competition brings about more features and offers. In this article, we will be taking a look at the features, speed as well as the 4G network coverage of NTC & NCELL.
4G Data Packs and Pricing
Currently 4G sim cards from all providers are easily available in the market. Speaking of data packs, all three network providers have different data packs under different price range and validity period. Below are the data packs from NTC, Ncell and Smartcell.
| NTC Data Packs | |||
| Price (NRs.) | Data Volume (MB) | Validity | Subscription Code |
| 50 | 200 | 7 Days | Type 4G200MB & Send to 1415 |
| 100 | 500 | 14 Days | Type 4G500MB & Send to 1415 |
| 200 | 1200 | 28 Days | Type 4G1200MB & Send to 1415 |
| 300 | 2000 | Type 4G2000MB & Send to 1415 | |
| 500 | 3600 | Type 4G3600MB & Send to 1415 | |
| Ncell Data Packs | ||||
|
Price (including taxes) |
All-time data (Can be used anytime) | Validity | ||
| Volume | Free Volume for 4G users | Price/MB for 4G users | ||
| Rs. 10 | 30MB | + 30MB 4G data | 17 paisa | 1 day |
| Rs. 30 | 100MB | + 100MB 4G data | 15 paisa | 3 day |
| Rs. 50 | 200MB | + 200MB 4G data | 13 paisa | 3 day |
| Rs. 70 | 250MB | + 250MB 4G data | 14 paisa | 7 day |
| Rs. 100 | 500MB | + 500MB 4G data | 10 paisa | 7 day |
| Rs. 300 | 1250MB | + 1250MB 4G data | 12 paisa | 30 day |
| Rs. 500 | 2500MB | + 2500MB 4G data | 10 paisa | 30 day |
| Rs. 1500 | 10000MB | +10000MB 4G data | 8 paisa | 30 day |
4G Coverage |
|
| NTC | NCELL |
| Even though NTC is the largest of the three, currently 4G service from NTC only covers Kathmandu and Pokhara with extension plans to other major cities in the near future. | Ncell seems to be quite ahead of the pack in terms of coverage. The 4G service from the provider is available 21 cities across Nepal– Kathmandu, Lalitpur, Bhaktapur (including Nagarkot), Banepa, Dhulikhel, Pokhara, Damauli, Birtamode, Damak, Biratnagar, Dharan, Birgunj, Hetauda, Bharatapur, Butwal, Bhairahawa, Nepalgunj, Kohalpur, Birendranagar, Dhangadhi and Lahan. |
4G Speed |
|
| NTC | NCELL |
| NTC provides an official 4G speed 32.4 Mbps which is not very high in our opinion. During our peak hour test of the network we received an average speed of around 7 Mbps. While these speeds are slow taking a look at the global standard, in Nepal you can easily surf the web without any lag in this speed. | Ncell provides an official 4G speed of 37 Mbps but in our peak hour tests we received an average speed of only 4 Mbps. This shows that only in paper Ncell provides the greater speed while in real life it is slower than NTC. |
From this comparison, we can say that in terms of speed NTC is best of the pack. Even during the peak hours you can get speeds averaging 7 Mbps, which is enough here in Nepal. In terms of coverage, though, Ncell is far ahead, covering 21 cities, whereas the other one is only cover Kathmandu and Pokhara. So, right now if you want to try 4G and are outside of Kathmandu and Pokhara the your only option is Ncell. But if you live inside Kathmandu valley or Pokhara then you can give a try to NTC.
