3G service, an important chapter of mobile internet technology in Nepal, is now coming to an end. The private sector telecommunication service provider Ncell has started shutting down 3G services in a phased manner, while the government-owned Nepal Telecom has also said that it will study whether the continuation of 3G is necessary in its annual program.

Recently, while the number of 4G users has exceeded 2.5 million, the number of 3G users is limited to an average of 6-7 million. On the other hand, those using 2G data for very basic purposes are around 3 million. Ncell has said that 3G technology equipment has been removed or the 3G signal has been turned off in more than 15 percent of its mobile towers across the country. Due to this, the number of 3G customers of Ncell has decreased by 1.4 million in the last one year, while 4.6 million customers have been added to 4G. 

The company has said that it is shutting down the 3G service with a detailed plan so that the customers are less affected. "After the 3G service is completely stopped, it does not mean that the phone will not work, the basic mobile service will run in 2G mode and therefore the voice service will not be affected," the company informed Kantipur via email, "However, this will reduce the data experience of 3G handset users."

With 3G being closed, users should upgrade to a mobile phone that supports 4G to get better speed and service. Noting that Ncell is providing 4G services to more than 95 percent of the population across the country, it has urged users to upgrade to 4G. "In terms of coverage, there will be no service gap when 3G is closed," Ncell said. The number of 3G handsets is low. According to the latest data, the number of 3G customers of Ncell is currently only 150,000, while last year there were 1500,000 in Baisakh. 

Nepal Telecommunication Authority, the regulator of the telecommunication sector, has stated that according to the concept of technology neutrality, service provider companies have the right to operate any technology such as 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G. But for this, the authority should provide the necessary spectrum. Meen Prasad Aryal, spokesperson of the authority, responded that the frequency policy includes the concept of technology neutrality and that the authority considers the use of technology that benefits the customer as positive. "The operator can operate the technology that is effective in the market," Aryal said, "Closing 3G means going to 4G. 2G or 4G are two options for voice services.' 

Among the many features of 4G, Voice over LTE (Volte) has clearer voice and a more organized network structure. Operators have informed that activating Volte on mobile does not cost data and does not increase battery consumption. Ncell claims that users can get high quality voice service after using Volte. Ncell expects service migration to be smooth as its 3G user base is very small. Authority spokesperson Aryal also said that since 4G is more advanced than 3G, moving towards it will be good for customers. Some experts are of the opinion that 'full-flamed' 4G with full features is enough for Nepalese users and instead of investing in 5G immediately, they should focus on full-flamed. 

Even though Nepal Telecom is not ready to stop 3G immediately, it is planning to study it in the annual program. As the number of 3G users of Telecom is 7.5 lakh, it is not possible to stop the service immediately, said Ravindra Manandhar, spokesperson of Telecom. "In the annual program of the coming financial year, the topic of studying the future of 3G has been included," he said, "there has been no discussion to stop it immediately." Last year, Nepal Telecom's 3G users were 5.656 thousand in Baisakh, but in 2081 Baisakh, this number decreased by 4.8 lakh to 7.56 thousand.

3G service in Nepal started on 3rd May 2064. Nepal Telecom started testing this service within the Ring Road of Kathmandu Valley. Then Ncell launched 3G service from August 31, 2067. Over time, these service providers expanded their 3G network to different parts of the country. Nepal Telecom said that it has provided 3G service in 75 districts of the country till October 20, 2073. In December 2073, Telecom launched the fourth generation mobile service (4G). Ncell rolled out 4G in June 2074.

In the history of telecommunication technology, users are accustomed to the mobile Internet, which is given to 3G. It changed the way people used their mobiles. Mobile phone use, limited to phone calls and simple SMS, expanded to video calls to music downloads and even gaming with the advent of 3G. Due to the data speed of 3G, Bagrelti mobile app started to be developed. According to the International Telecommunication Union, on October 1, 2001, Japan's NTT Docomo launched the first commercial 3G service in the world. This service provider has announced to stop 3G by 2026. 

The 3G network helped improve the quality of phone calls, reducing the problem of dropped calls. Most importantly, it made it possible to use voice and data services simultaneously. That is, you can surf the internet or use apps while talking on the phone, a feature that was not possible in the 2Z. But after the development of 4G, 3G became very slow.

The maximum speed of 3G service is up to 14 Mbps while the minimum speed of 4G is 30 Mbps. According to the standards of the International Telecommunication Union, a service with a speed of 100 Mbps is considered 4G. With the expansion of new technologies like 4G and 5G, various countries have started shutting down 3G mobile services. Major US operators like AT&T and T-Mobile stopped 3G in 2022. 3G is about to be completely phased out in many countries including India, China, Australia. 

How many are 3G users? 

year                User

2082 : 869 thousand 859

2081 : 71 lakh 87 thousand 108

2080 : 77 lakh 53 thousand 261

2079 : 1 crore 9 lakh 66 thousand 770

2078 : 1 crore 19 lakh 56 thousand 120

2077 : 1 crore 15 lakh 23 thousand 8 hundred 88

2076 : 1 crore 9 lakh 5 thousand 724

2075 : 93 lakh 26 thousand 2 hundred 1

How many 4G users are there?

year                       User