11 percent of Nepalis have internet access: UN report

KATHMANDU POST, SEP 24 - Nepal has been ranked in the 148th position among 192 countries in terms of the percentage of population having access to internetservice. The report entitled The State of Broadband 2013 published by the UN Broadband Commission states that 11.1 percent of Nepalis use the internet . Compared to the 2012 rankings, Nepal has slipped nine places. Last year’s report on broadband access worldwide had put Nepal in the 139th position with internet penetration at 9 percent. Even though the country has experienced rapid development in the telecom sector during the last one decade, it has lagged behind in extending fixed and mobile broadband connection to a wider section of the population. The report has put Nepal in the 136th position, down from the 127th spot last year, on the basis of fixed broadband lines provided. Fixed broadband, also known as wired broadband service which includes cable internet , ADSL and cable modem, has reached 0.4 per 100 inhabitants. Similarly, the country is in the 99th position among 128 developing countries with 4.1 percentage of the households having internet connection. Officials at the Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA) said that the sector could not progress at the pace of international economies that resulted in Nepal slipping in the international rankings. “Due to growing competition and the entry of new operators, mobile broadband will witness good growth in the days to come,” said Ananda Raj Khanal, director of the NTA.  

As per the report, South Korea continues to have the world’s highest household broadband penetration at over 97 percent. Switzerland leads the world in fixed broadband subscriptions per capita, at over 40 percent. By comparison, the US ranks 24th in terms of household broadband penetration, and 20th in the world for fixed broadband subscriptions per capita, just behind Finland and ahead of Japan.

In terms of internet use, there are now more than 70 countries where over 50 percent of the population is online, according to the UN Broadband Commission. The top five countries having maximum penetration rate are Iceland (96 percent), Norway (95 percent), Sweden (94 percent) and Denmark (93 percent) and the Netherlands (93 percent). Likewise, Burundi, Myanmar, Timor Leste, Eritrea and North Korea are the bottom five.

The 2013 edition of the State of Broadband Report was prepared by the UN Broadband Commission based on the total number of users in the member countries of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) by 2012. The report has termed mobile broadband as the “fastest growing technology” in human history. It stated that mobile broadband subscriptions, which allow users to access the web via smartphones, tablets and WiFi-connected laptops, are growing at a rate of 30 percent per year.