Marcin Frąckiewicz, Author at TechStock²

Wi-Fi on Everest, Firewalls in Lhasa: Inside Tibet’s Internet Revolution

A China Mobile 5G base station was installed at Mount Everest base camp at 6,500 meters in 2020, making it the world’s highest 5G site. By 2019, more than 98% of Tibet’s villages had fiber‑optic broadband and 4G mobile coverage due to government investment. By 2018, government universal service projects connected over 5,000 villages with broadband across Tibet. End of 2019 Tibet had about 50,000 mobile base stations, rising to 60,500 by late 2022. By 2023, 5G network coverage extended to all towns in Tibet. By November 2022 Tibet had 1.28 million fixed broadband internet users, with 98% of those

12 April 2025

High-Speed Himalayas: Inside Nepal’s Race to Connect Every Peak and Village

Nepal’s mobile market is led by Nepal Telecom with about 57% share, Ncell around 36%, and Smart Telecom about 6%. WorldLink Communications is the largest fixed broadband ISP with 972,781 subscribers as of 2024, roughly 30% of Nepal’s fixed broadband connections. FTTH subscribers surpassed 2.5 million in January 2023 and reached about 2.89 million by late 2024, with home plans typically 20 Mbps to 100–300 Mbps and premium options up to 600 Mbps or 1 Gbps. 4G coverage reached about 88% of the population by 2023, with Nepal Telecom reporting 11.5 million 4G users and total mobile broadband subscriptions around

5 April 2025

Connectivity · Internet · Nepal · NYSE:BHARTIARTL · Society · Technology

Bridging 17,000 Islands: Inside Indonesia’s Internet Revolution

Telkomsel dominates Indonesia’s mobile market with about 45% of subscribers (roughly 153 million) in 2024, and IndiHome now accounts for roughly 75% of fixed broadband after the integration. IndiHome fiber-to-the-home footprint has passed 38 million homes, with at least around 10 million connected by mid-2024. The Palapa Ring backbone spans over 13,000 km of fiber, linking western, central, and eastern Indonesia to provide high-capacity backhaul beyond Java. Internationally, Indonesia is tied to multiple undersea cables, including new trans-Pacific links Project Echo and Bifrost (Meta) that will boost trans-Pacific capacity by about 70%, along with the Apricot cable planned to deliver

2 April 2025

Indonesia · Internet · NASDAQ:META · Revolution · Social Media · Technology

From Yurts to YouTube: Inside Mongolia’s Internet Revolution

Univision LLC leads Mongolia’s internet market with about 62% market share and is part of the Unitel group, offering fiber-optic broadband and IPTV. MobiCom Corporation (including Mobinet) is the second-largest ISP with roughly 15% market share, and operates both mobile networks and internet services. Skymedia Corporation holds around 10% of the ISP market and Mobinet LLC about 3%, with smaller providers like ONDO filling the rest. In mobile, Mongolia is served by four operators—MobiCom, Unitel, Skytel, and G-Mobile—with 2014 data showing MobiCom at about 39.5% and Unitel at about 35.5% of mobile subscriptions. About 69% of Mongolia’s population lives in

2 April 2025

Connectivity · Digital Divide · Internet · Mongolia · Technology

Internet Access in Kiribati: Bridging the Digital Divide Across Remote Pacific Islands

Kiribati comprises 33 atolls spread across 3.5 million square kilometers of ocean. As of January 2024, there were about 73,300 internet users, representing 54.4% of the population. In early 2024, there were about 69,200 mobile cellular connections, equal to 51.4% of the population. All international and inter-island connectivity currently depends on satellite links, and Kiribati has no submarine fiber cable. Amalgamated Telecom Holdings Kiribati Ltd (ATHKL), trading as Vodafone Kiribati, is the main operator after acquiring Telecom Services Kiribati Ltd in 2015 and upgrading 3G/4G coverage in Tarawa and Kiritimati. Ocean Link launched in 2019 to introduce competition and extend

22 March 2025

Connectivity · Digital Divide · Internet Access · Kiribati · Pacific Islands

Internet Access in Somalia: Growth, Challenges, and the Future of Connectivity

As of early 2024, Somalia had about 5.08 million internet users, a 27.6% penetration, up from around 2% in 2017, with more than 13 million people offline. Internet use is concentrated in urban centers such as Mogadishu and Hargeisa, while fixed broadband remains scarce, with only about 1% of Somalis having a high-speed fixed connection (>256 kbps). There were 10.10 million cellular mobile connections active in early 2024, about 54.8% of the population, and 4G LTE coverage reaches roughly 50–60%. By late 2024, at least three telecoms had launched initial 5G services in major urban centers, with Hormuud planning to

20 March 2025

Challenges · Connectivity · Internet Access · Somalia · Technology

Internet Access in Niger: Broadband, Mobile, and Satellite Overview

As of early 2025, about 6.37 million people in Niger were online, representing 23.2% of the population, up from 4.7 million (16.9% penetration) in January 2024. Fixed broadband is negligible outside Niamey; fiber/DSL is available only in the capital and a few major towns, with most users relying on mobile. There were about 16.5 million cellular mobile connections in early 2025, equal to 60.1% of the population, though many subscriptions are basic 2G without data. Mobile coverage spans roughly one-third of Niger’s land area, yet up to 87% of the population can receive at least a basic mobile signal where

17 March 2025

Broadband · Internet Access · Mobile Networks · Niger · Satellite

Internet Access in Australia: A Comprehensive Overview

As of mid-2023, around 12.3 million premises were ready to connect to the NBN, and by early 2025 about 8.62 million homes and businesses were actively connected to NBN-based plans. The NBN uses a multi-technology mix—FTTP, FTTN, FTTC, HFC, Fixed Wireless, and Satellite—and is legally required to offer at least 25 Mbps download speeds to all premises nationwide. NBN fixed-line speed tiers include 25 Mbps, 50 Mbps, and 100 Mbps, with higher options up to about 1 Gbps on capable FTTP and HFC connections, and in 2023 these services delivered 98.5% of advertised download speeds during peak hours. Reliability varies

15 March 2025

Australia · Broadband · Connectivity · Internet Access · Technology

Egypt’s Internet Revolution: Fiber Frenzy, 5G Dreams, and a Satellite Showdown

WE Data leads fixed broadband with about 80% of subscriptions. Vodafone Egypt is the largest mobile operator with about 42% market share. Orange Egypt holds about 26% and Etisalat by e& about 22% of the mobile market. Fixed broadband median speed reached 76.7 Mbps by early 2025, while mobile data speed median via 3G/4G is around 24.2 Mbps. The regulator auctioned the 2600 MHz band in late 2020 for 5G, but full licenses were not immediately issued, and Telecom Egypt secured the first 5G spectrum license in 2024 for $150 million. The Haya Karima rural development initiative aims to connect

15 March 2025

5G · Egypt · Fiber · Internet Access · Satellite

UAE’s Internet Revolution: Blazing Speeds, Fiber Dominance & the Race to Satellite Connectivity

As of mid-2024, the UAE’s telecom market is effectively a duopoly dominated by Etisalat (e& UAE) with about 12.9 million mobile subscribers (~61% share) and by du with about 8.2 million subscribers (~39% share; both majority government-owned). Abu Dhabi became the first capital city globally to be fully connected by fiber optics in 2011, and by 2024 the UAE achieved 99.3% FTTH penetration, the highest in the world according to the FTTH Council for the eighth consecutive year. The UAE launched the first commercial 5G network in May 2019, and by late 2023 5G coverage reached about 97–98% of the

12 March 2025

Connectivity · Fiber Optics · Internet · Technology · UAE

Saudi Arabia’s High-Speed Internet Revolution: Fiber Booms, 5G Soars, and Satellites Race to Connect the Kingdom

Saudi Telecom Company (stc) accounted for about 67% of Saudi Arabia’s telecom market by revenue in Q3 2022, and held roughly 50–55% of mobile subscribers, with Mobily at 20–25% and Zain at 10–15%. The Saudi Open Access agreement in 2020 allows all six major network operators—stc, Mobily, Zain, Salam, Dawiyat, and GO Telecom—to share towers and fiber networks to boost coverage. By 2022, internet penetration reached about 98–99% of the population, and around 3.7 million households had access to high-speed fiber. Fiber broadband accounted for about 64% of fixed subscriptions by the end of 2023, signaling a fiber-led broadband transition.

11 March 2025

5G · Fiber · High-Speed Internet · Satellites · Saudi Arabia

Internet Access in North Korea. How North Korea’s Secret Internet Works: Discover the Hidden World of Kwangmyong

Kwangmyong is North Korea’s nationwide domestic intranet that is completely isolated from the World Wide Web and hosts roughly 1,000–5,500 internal websites. Global Internet access is restricted to a tiny elite; only a few dozen websites are reachable from abroad, with a 2016 leak noting 28 .kp domains and North Korea having about 1,024 Internet addresses. Star Joint Venture Co., created around 2009 as a North Korea–Thailand partnership between the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications and Loxley Pacific, is the gatekeeper for international connectivity and IP allocations. Koryolink launched North Korea’s 3G network in December 2008; by 2011 it had

11 March 2025

Censorship · Internet · Kwangmyong · North Korea · NYSE:CHU · Technology