Today’s telecom news includes announcements on Telecom policy in Nepal, T-Mobile, Ericsson, MTN Group, among others.
Nepal Targets 50 Mbps Broadband for 80 Percent of Population
Nepal’s draft Integrated Telecommunications Policy 2026 proposes new targets for broadband affordability, network quality and next-generation connectivity. The policy aims to provide minimum 50 Mbps broadband access to 80 percent of the population within five years and 98 percent within ten years. It also proposes reducing basic broadband costs to 2 percent of per-capita gross national income within five years and 1.5 percent within a decade. The strategy targets ICT’s direct contribution to GDP at 4 percent within five years and 7 percent within ten years. It also promotes fibre, 5G, fixed wireless access, IoT, satellite and high-altitude platform technologies, alongside infrastructure sharing, cybersecurity measures and greater foreign investment to accelerate Nepal’s digital transformation.
T-Mobile Challenges Satellite Networks’ Ability to Match Mobile Capacity
T-Mobile has questioned whether satellite networks can directly compete with terrestrial mobile networks, pointing to limitations in signal strength and capacity. The company said satellites operating hundreds of kilometres above Earth face substantial signal loss when connecting directly with ordinary mobile devices, particularly indoors and inside vehicles. T-Mobile also highlighted capacity constraints because satellite beams cover large areas and must serve many users simultaneously. Despite these limitations, the operator views direct-to-device satellite connectivity as a useful complement to terrestrial networks in remote locations where conventional infrastructure is difficult or uneconomical to deploy. T-Mobile reported that direct-to-device traffic accounted for only 0.002 percent of its network traffic during the previous week, highlighting its current supplementary role.
Ericsson and MTN Accelerate Cloud Modernization of Mobile Money Services
Ericsson and MTN Group Fintech have completed the MoMo Evolved Migration across Eswatini, Ghana, Rwanda and Uganda, modernizing mobile-money infrastructure through a standardized cloud-native architecture. The companies are extending the transformation to additional African markets, with projects underway in Cameroon and discussions involving Benin, the Republic of the Congo and Zambia. The upgraded infrastructure uses the Ericsson Fintech Platform to improve scalability, platform performance, operational efficiency and API responsiveness while reducing infrastructure overhead. Selected MTN operating companies are also evaluating migration to public cloud environments. The modernization strengthens MTN’s digital financial-services infrastructure and supports the expansion of mobile-money capabilities across its African markets, reinforcing the group’s broader digital transformation and fintech growth strategy.
SHAFANA FAZAL
