Kathmandu, 15 November (H.S.): Nepal is preparing for a major technological transition in its telecommunications sector, with the country's two leading service providers — private operator Ncell and state-owned Nepal Telecom — moving towards discontinuing their third-generation (3G) mobile services and focusing entirely on fourth-generation (4G) technology.

Telecom operators across the world are gradually phasing out older generations of mobile technology and investing in advanced networks and greater capacity. In line with this global trend, Nepal's two major telecom companies have accelerated their plans to discontinue 3G services, with private operator Ncell taking the lead.

Ncell aims to completely shut down its 3G services nationwide by December 2026. Nepal Telecom, meanwhile, is also preparing to phase out the technology within the current fiscal year.

According to Ncell, it has already discontinued 3G services at 992 of its 3,139 network sites across the country, accounting for approximately 32 per cent of its total sites. The company is planning to shut down 3G services at the remaining 2,150 or so sites in a phased manner after the Tihar festival.

Ncell will initially discontinue 3G services in Lumbini and Gandaki provinces, followed by Bagmati Province. The phase-out will subsequently extend to various areas of Madhesh, Gandaki and Koshi provinces.

The company said that only around 3 per cent of its active subscribers currently use 3G services. However, despite the expansion of 4G coverage across the country, more than 420,000 customers still have 3G SIM cards.

Ncell claims that its 4G network now covers approximately 95 per cent of Nepal's population. By discontinuing 3G, the company aims to optimise network capacity and make more efficient use of the available spectrum. Retiring the older technology will allow resources to be redirected towards improving the quality and performance of newer services.

Ncell has clarified that customers will not be deprived of basic communication facilities following the shutdown of 3G services. Those using older mobile handsets that do not support 4G will still be able to make regular voice calls and send SMS messages through the 2G network.

The company will also provide free 4G SIM cards to customers using older SIMs. Those who upgrade their SIM cards will receive 2 GB of complimentary mobile data valid for seven days.

Ncell is also encouraging subscribers to adopt Voice over Long-Term Evolution (VoLTE), a technology that enables voice calls directly over the 4G network. It offers clearer and faster voice communication while allowing users to continue accessing mobile data during calls.

Following Ncell's move, state-owned Nepal Telecom has also begun preparations to discontinue its 3G services during the current fiscal year.

Nepal Telecom spokesperson Kamal Lamichhane said that telecom operators in Nepal and most other countries were gradually phasing out 3G technology. In keeping with this trend, Nepal Telecom was working towards completely discontinuing its 3G services during the 2026/27 fiscal year. The company currently operates its 3G network in the 2,100 MHz frequency band.

According to Lamichhane, after the discontinuation of 3G, customers will be able to use 4G for mobile internet services and 2G for conventional voice calls. Those wishing to access both data and voice services through a single network can opt for 4G VoLTE. This is expected to improve the quality of both internet connectivity and voice calls.

Nepal Telecom has so far expanded its 4G services to 760 local administrative units across the country. The company is working to extend coverage to the remaining local units and improve overall network quality.

With both major telecom operators preparing to phase out 3G technology, Nepal is expected to accelerate its transition from older mobile networks to next-generation connectivity.

The frequency spectrum and network resources currently allocated to 3G services can be redeployed to enhance 4G capacity and service quality. The transition is also expected to have implications for telecom operators' operational costs and network management.

However, despite the expanding reach of 4G, migrating customers who continue to use older handsets and SIM cards to the newer technology remains a challenge for both companies. Ensuring that customers in rural areas and economically disadvantaged communities are not deprived of essential communication services during the transition will be particularly important.

According to data from the Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA) up to the month of Ashwin, 738,761 customers in Nepal were still using 3G services. Of these, 642,720 were Nepal Telecom subscribers and 96,041 were Ncell customers.

In comparison, the number of 4G subscribers in the country had reached 26,858,267. These included 14,714,276 Nepal Telecom subscribers and 12,143,991 Ncell customers.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar