Nepal's mobile internet reaches almost everyone. Fixed broadband is another story

The regulator's monthly figures show mobile subscriptions well above the size of the population, a sign of second SIMs rather than universal coverage, but also of how ordinary a connection has become. (‘MIS Report’ 2025)

Fixed broadband tells a different story. Fibre follows highways and towns; the hill districts between them wait.

Why fixed lines still matter

The ITU's global figures make the same point for most of the developing world: mobile reaches people first, but schools, clinics and small businesses need the steadier, cheaper capacity of a wire. (‘Measuring Digital Development:’ 2024)

The policy answer in several countries has been a universal service fund that pays for the last unprofitable kilometre. Nepal has one; the question is how quickly it is spent.