Buy Ncell if you are staying low and Nepal Telecom if you are going high, and if your trip does both, buy both. Nepali prepaid is cheap enough that carrying two lines is a rounding error on the price of a domestic flight: a bare NTC starter costs around NPR 90 and an Ncell card about NPR 110, with the data pack on top. Ncell's TouristPro range is the tidiest product on the market for a visitor, bundling unlimited data and calls into one seven, fourteen or twenty-eight day price. NTC is slower in the city but it is the network that keeps registering when the trail climbs past the last teahouse with a hot shower. Whichever you choose, the counter needs your original passport and usually a photo, so keep the booklet accessible when you land. Our Nepal eSIM guide covers the no-queue alternative, the Holafly review explains the one eSIM that rides NTC, and the eSIM Finder will match a plan to your route.
What This Guide Covers
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Ncell, Nepal Telecom and SmartCell: Who Covers What
Nepal has three mobile operators and a visitor only needs to weigh two. Nepal Telecom, the state incumbent branded Namaste and universally shortened to NTC, reported roughly 15.8 million GSM lines in the regulator's mid-February to mid-May 2026 report and holds about 48.9 percent of the country's internet subscriptions. Ncell, the Axiata-owned private operator, sits just behind at roughly 14 million lines and about 32.8 percent of internet subscriptions. SmartCell is a small third player with a limited footprint that no traveller needs to think about.
The headline numbers hide the thing that actually matters, which is where each network put its towers. Ncell invested where the money is, so across Thamel, Patan, Bhaktapur, Lakeside in Pokhara and the hill town of Bandipur it commonly returns 10 to 40 Mbit/s while NTC trundles along at 5 to 15. Nepal Telecom built as public infrastructure, so its masts reached district headquarters and hill villages that were never commercially attractive, and that is precisely the terrain a trekker walks through.
Nothing on sale is 5G. The regulator finalised frequency allocation and declared itself ready to auction spectrum in mid-2026, and Nepal Telecom has completed internal testing with Kathmandu and Pokhara first in line, but no commercial service exists yet. Every rupee you spend on a data pack today buys 4G in the valley and something considerably older on a ridge.
The question that decides your operator: how high are you sleeping?
Under about 3,500 metres, Ncell is faster and its tourist packs are better designed. Above that line the picture reverses. Trekkers on the Annapurna Circuit repeatedly find Ncell dropping out beyond Manang while NTC holds a thin 3G thread, and in the upper Khumbu the occasional bar at Lobuche is almost always the state network. If your route tops out at Poon Hill or Mardi Himal, Ncell alone is fine. If it involves Thorong La or Everest Base Camp, carry an NTC line as well and switch as you gain height.
Ncell
Ncell: The Fast One, With the Cleanest Tourist Packs
Unlimited TouristPro bundles built for a visitor rather than a subscriber
TouristPro is the rare telecom product that seems to have been designed by someone who has actually met a tourist. One price, one duration, unlimited data and unlimited calls, and no arithmetic. Sprinter at NPR 595 works out near five US dollars for a week, which is less than a single day of unlimited data from the premium travel eSIM brands, and the fair use throttle at 10 GB is far more data than a week of maps, WhatsApp and Instagram consumes. Explorer stretches the same idea to fourteen days for NPR 995 with a 25 GB throttle, and Voyager covers a twenty-eight day expedition for NPR 1,995.
If you would rather buy plain data, Ncell's standard packs are competitive too, at roughly NPR 698 for 25 GB or NPR 1,198 for 50 GB across thirty days. Note that advertised pack prices normally exclude 13 percent VAT, so what leaves your wallet is a little higher than the poster. Ncell is also the operator pushing hardest on eSIM for visitors, selling a tourist eSIM through its own online platform, which is useful if your phone has no tray but you still want a Nepali number for Pathao codes.
Strengths
Weaknesses
Nepal Telecom (NTC)
Nepal Telecom: The Line That Follows the Trail
Slower in town, still standing at 4,000 metres
NTC's pricing is startling by any international standard. A hundred gigabytes for about NPR 999, which is under eight dollars, is not a typo, and twenty gigabytes for NPR 399 covers a fortnight of heavy use for roughly three. What you sacrifice is speed in the places you will spend most of your evenings: a Thamel guesthouse on NTC feels sluggish next to the same room on Ncell, and video calls home can stutter at peak hours.
You are not buying NTC for speed. You are buying it for the moments when speed is irrelevant because the alternative is nothing at all. The pattern trekkers describe is consistent across both major routes: Ncell fades first, NTC lingers, and somewhere above that the mountain wins regardless. That makes NTC a superb second line rather than a primary one, which is exactly how Nepali guides use it. Do note that operator packs are quoted before 13 percent VAT and that NTC's own usage counter has a reputation for reading higher than your phone's, so leave a little headroom.
Two lines cost less than one airport coffee
An NTC starter at around NPR 90 plus a 20 GB pack at NPR 399 lands under five dollars all in. Carrying it alongside an Ncell TouristPro card, or alongside a travel eSIM in the digital slot, means you can switch networks when the bars disappear at Chame or Tengboche instead of hoping. Register both at the same counter with the same passport and the whole thing takes about ten minutes.
Registration: Passport, Photo and Ten Minutes
Every prepaid line in Nepal is registered to an identified person, and for a foreigner that identification is your passport. There is no way around it and no anonymous starter pack sold in a corner shop. The good news is that the process is quick, unbureaucratic by Nepali standards, and handled in English at any counter used to tourists.
Carry the original booklet
Agents need to see and record the actual passport, not an image of it. Because your passport is already in your hand at immigration, the Tribhuvan arrivals counters are the path of least resistance. If you sort it later in Thamel, take the passport with you rather than leaving it in the hotel safe.
Bring a passport photo, or let them take one
Nepali registration forms have a space for a passport-size photograph, and many counters also want a photocopy of your identity page. Tourist-facing desks at the airport and in Thamel will photograph you on the spot and copy the page themselves, but carrying two spare photos from home costs nothing and speeds up the queue. Trekking permit offices will want them anyway.
Watch the pack go on before you leave
Activation normally takes five to ten minutes. Ask the agent to load the data pack in front of you, then open a map or send a message while you are still at the desk. A pack applied to the wrong line or a registration left half-finished is a five-minute fix at the counter and an afternoon of frustration once you are across town.
Save the top-up route while you are online
Note the code for your operator before you need it. NTC packs run through *1415# or the Namaste app, and both networks accept payment through the eSewa and Khalti wallets that Nepalis use for everything. Learning this in a shop with staff nearby beats working it out on a Manang rest day.
Nepali Prepaid Plans Compared
| Option | Typical data | Price | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ncell TouristPro Sprinter | Unlimited to a 10 GB throttle, 7 days | NPR 595 (roughly $4.50) | A week in the valley and Pokhara |
| Ncell TouristPro Explorer | Unlimited to a 25 GB throttle, 14 days | NPR 995 | The standard two-week Nepal holiday |
| Ncell TouristPro Voyager | Unlimited, 28 days | NPR 1,995 | A full trekking season or a long research trip |
| NTC monthly pack | 20 GB over 30 days | NPR 399 plus about NPR 90 for the SIM | A cheap altitude backup line |
| NTC large pack | 100 GB over 30 days | NPR 999 | Tethering a laptop from a Kathmandu apartment |
| Travel eSIM on Ncell | 10 GB, 30 days | About $24 | Arriving connected with no counter queue |
| Travel eSIM on NTC | Unlimited, 7 days | About $65.90 | High trekking where reachability outranks price |
Read down the price column and the local advantage is stark. A fortnight of unlimited Ncell data costs under eight dollars at the counter, while the equivalent convenience from an international eSIM brand runs several times that. What the extra buys you is a phone that already works when the aircraft door opens, no passport handed across a desk, and no queue behind a full Airbus of trekkers. What it costs you, beyond money, is a Nepali number, which the local ride-hailing and delivery apps insist on.
Where to Buy a SIM in Nepal
Tribhuvan arrivals, past baggage claim
Ncell in purple and Nepal Telecom in blue keep desks beside each other in the international arrivals hall, with a second cluster in the covered area immediately outside once you clear customs. The airport menu is simple rather than cheap: NTC bundles at roughly NPR 100, 500 and 1,200 for a day, a week and four weeks, and Ncell packs from about NPR 500. The catch is opening hours, with the Ncell shop commonly listed as running only about 9:00 to 17:30, so a Gulf red-eye landing at 2am may find the shutters down.
Thamel, where every second doorway sells something
The tourist quarter is thick with small shops selling SIMs, top-ups and trekking gear in the same three square metres. Prices match the rest of the city and staff handle foreign registrations daily. For anything that needs fixing, a swapped pack or a line that will not activate, walk to a proper Ncell Centre or a Nepal Telecom office rather than a curio shop counter.
Pokhara Lakeside and other tourist hubs
If you fly or bus straight out of Kathmandu, Lakeside has the same shops and the same paperwork, so there is no penalty in waiting. Both operators also run branded centres in the larger towns along the highways, including the approaches to Chitwan, and these are the places to buy before a trek rather than assuming a trailhead village will sell you anything.
Topping up once you are moving
You never need to return to a branded store to add data. Corner shops sell recharge across the country, the operator apps take cards, and the eSewa and Khalti wallets settle almost anything in Nepal. On a trek, buy your next pack in Namche Bazaar or Manang while you still have a signal worth using, not at the point where you have run out.
What Actually Works Above the Treeline
No SIM sold in Kathmandu will keep you online for an entire Himalayan trek, so it is worth knowing what does the work at each altitude band before you spend money solving the wrong problem.
| Where | What works | What it costs |
|---|---|---|
| Lukla and Namche Bazaar | Real 4G on both networks, the last fast point on the Everest route | Your normal data pack |
| Tengboche to Dingboche | Intermittent 3G and 2G, NTC more often than Ncell | Your data pack, patience required |
| Lobuche to Gorak Shep | Everest Link teahouse WiFi, cellular effectively gone | NPR 300 to 600 a session, up to about NPR 1,000 for larger cards |
| Manang and Muktinath | NTC holds a usable signal where Ncell has dropped out | Your NTC pack |
| Thorong La pass day | Nothing, on any network | Tell people in advance |
Everest Link is the quiet hero of the Khumbu. It has run fibre up the valley and sells prepaid access at lodges from Namche as far as Gorak Shep, and on the days when your phone shows no bars at all it is the only realistic way to send a message. Buy the card in Namche where the shops are, because availability higher up is thinner and pricier. Factor in charging as well: above Namche, teahouses typically charge NPR 200 to 500 per device per session, so a power bank pays for itself in three days.
Frequently Asked Questions
What paperwork does a foreigner need to buy a Nepali SIM?
Your original passport, plus in most cases a passport-size photograph and a photocopy of the identity page. Nepali lines must be registered to an identified person, so no counter will sell you an anonymous starter pack. Tourist-facing desks at Tribhuvan and in Thamel will take the photo and make the copy themselves if you have not brought them. Budget five to ten minutes and ask the agent to load your data pack before you walk away.
What do data packs actually cost in rupees?
Ncell's TouristPro bundles run NPR 595 for seven days, NPR 995 for fourteen and NPR 1,995 for twenty-eight, each with unlimited data and calls subject to throttling past 10 GB on the weekly and 25 GB on the fortnightly. Nepal Telecom is cheaper still, at roughly NPR 29 for 1 GB over a day, NPR 109 for 5 GB over a week, NPR 399 for 20 GB and NPR 999 for 100 GB over a month. Add 13 percent VAT, which most advertised prices exclude.
Should I take Nepal Telecom instead of Ncell to save money?
Take it for coverage, not for savings. NTC is genuinely cheap, but the reason to carry it is that it keeps a signal on trekking ground where Ncell has already given up, particularly above Manang on the Annapurna Circuit and around Dingboche and Lobuche in the Khumbu. In Kathmandu, Pokhara and Chitwan you will notice it is the slower network. The practical answer for a trip that mixes cities and mountains is one of each, which together still costs under ten dollars.
Can I get a Nepali eSIM instead of a plastic card?
Yes, and Ncell has pushed furthest on this, selling a tourist eSIM through its own online platform so you can get a Nepali number without a tray. Both operators also issue eSIM profiles at their city centres, though staff sometimes report the provisioning system being down and fall back to a physical card. If a Nepali number matters to you, mainly for the SMS codes that Pathao and inDrive send, treat the physical SIM as the reliable option and the eSIM as the convenient one.
Do I still need a local SIM if the teahouses have WiFi?
On the Everest route you will end up paying for WiFi regardless, because cellular coverage collapses above Dingboche and Everest Link's prepaid cards, at roughly NPR 300 to 600 a session, are what actually gets a photo home from Gorak Shep. Lower down the situation is reversed: lodge WiFi in Namche, Ghorepani or Manang is often a single slow link shared by a full dining room, and your own data is faster. Carry both and use whichever the altitude allows.