Connectivity News 24 February 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

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 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

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

Internet Access Services in Kenya

As of early 2024, about 22.7 million Kenyans were internet users, representing 40.8% penetration. Safaricom had 545,812 fixed subscriptions and 36.4% of the fixed broadband market as of mid-2024. Jamii Telecom Faiba held 24.0% of the fixed broadband market, while Wananchi (Zuku) had 17.5%. Poa Internet accounted for about 13.2% of fixed broadband market share. Starlink entered Kenya in July 2023 and reached 16,746 subscribers by January 2025 (about 1.1% of subscriptions). NOFBI aims to reach 100,000 km of fiber by 2026 and has connected all 47 counties. Safaricom expanded its fiber footprint to 14,000 km by March 2023 and

10 March 2025

Connectivity · Internet · Kenya · Services · Technology

Internet Access Services in Kazakhstan

Kazakhtelecom accounts for roughly 60% of Kazakhstan’s telecom market by revenue in 2023 and owns major stakes in mobile operators Kcell and Tele2/Altel. Kar-Tel/Beeline Kazakhstan (VEON) holds about 28% market revenue and is a leading mobile and broadband provider. In internet traffic by autonomous networks, Kazakhtelecom is largest at around 26%, Beeline about 20%, Tele2 Kazakhstan about 19%, and Kcell about 9%, indicating a consumer market duopoly. The Digital Kazakhstan program has expanded fiber nationwide, deploying more than 20,000 kilometers of fiber by 2021 and achieving 118 cities and over 4,500 villages with broadband, covering 97.2% of the population. By

10 March 2025

Connectivity · Internet · Kazakhstan · NASDAQ:VEON · Services · Technology

Internet Access in Nigeria: A Comprehensive Overview

Infrastructure and Major Service Providers Nigeria’s internet infrastructure relies on a combination of undersea fiber-optic cables, terrestrial networks, and a handful of dominant service providers. Multiple international submarine cables land in Nigeria, connecting it to global internet hubs. Key cables include: These undersea cables terminate in Lagos and other coastal landing stations, feeding into national fiber backbones. A number of companies have deployed fiber-optic networks crisscrossing the country, including Phase3 Telecom, MainOne, Globacom, Suburban Telecom, and MTN ecoi.net. Internet exchange points (IXPs) in at least five regions help route domestic traffic locally ecoi.net, improving speed and reducing costs. Nigeria’s internet

3 March 2025

Connectivity · Digital · Internet · Nigeria · NYSE:MTN · Technology

Internet Access in Sudan

Sudan’s internet backbone is centered at Port Sudan and links land via the East Africa Submarine System (EASSy) and FLAG/FALCON, with terrestrial fiber reaching Egypt and Ethiopia. Sudatel (Sudani) is over 60% state-owned and operates the national backbone along with fixed-line, mobile, and internet services under the Sudani brand. Zain Sudan, a subsidiary of Kuwait’s Zain Group, is the largest mobile operator with roughly 50% of the mobile market and offers nationwide 2G/3G/4G services. MTN Sudan, part of South Africa’s MTN Group, holds about a 25% share of the mobile market and provides mobile voice and data. Canar Telecom is

25 February 2025

Access · Connectivity · Internet · Sudan · Technology

Internet Access in Yemen: Overview and Key Aspects

Yemen’s bandwidth is dominated by a single aging subsea cable, the FALCON/FLAG system, landing at the Red Sea port of Hodeidah, with only a narrow backup via Djibouti and some satellite links. During the civil war, land fiber links to Saudi Arabia were destroyed, leaving Yemen largely dependent on undersea cables. AdenNet was launched in mid-2018 by the internationally recognized government in Aden to provide fiber to institutions and 4G LTE to consumers, independently of Sana’a’s infrastructure and with tens of thousands of subscribers. There are four mobile operators—YOU (Yemeni Omani United, formerly MTN Yemen), Sabafon, Yemen Mobile, and Y

24 February 2025

Connectivity · Internet · Overview · Technology · Yemen

Internet Access in Iraq

The Ministry of Communications (MoC) controls the national fiber backbone and international gateways and leases bandwidth to private ISPs at wholesale prices around $50 per 1 Mbps. As of 2021, Iraq had about 2.1 million fixed-line/FTTH subscribers, with most of the deployment concentrated in Baghdad. Iraq has over 40 million mobile subscriptions, with 4G LTE launched in January 2021 across Zain Iraq, Asiacell, and Korek, reaching approximately 98% of the population by 2023. By early 2024, about 36.2 million Iraqis were internet users, representing 78–79% of the population. The Iraqi National Backbone project, led by Earthlink and Nokia, will span

24 February 2025

Access · Connectivity · Internet · Iraq · NASDAQ:ELNK · NYSE:NOK · NYSE:VOD · Technology

Connectivity News 24 February 2025 - 5 April 2025