Nepal Unveils 5G Roadmap Targeting Nationwide Coverage by 2035 and 3G Sunset by 2027
KATHMANDU — The Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA) has published a comprehensive draft policy titled Nepal’s Road to 5G, establishing a phased national transition plan aimed at delivering full nationwide 5G coverage by 2035 alongside immediate capacity enhancements for 4G networks, backhaul links, and urban small-cell infrastructure.
The regulatory framework sets clear milestones to address rising domestic data consumption, which has been expanding at an annual rate of 30% to 40%. With approximately 35% of existing mobile cell sites operating at peak physical resource block utilization, the regulator has opened a 15-day public consultation window to gather industry feedback.
Key Implementation Milestones:
2027 Target: Elevate average nationwide mobile broadband download speeds to a minimum of 20 Mbps, initiate the formal shutdown of legacy 3G networks, and restrict imports of 3G-only handsets and equipment.
2030 Target: Deliver high-speed mobile broadband speeds of at least 100 Mbps across all major urban centers.
2035 Target: Achieve comprehensive nationwide 5G coverage across diverse topographies.
Fiscal Year 2026/2027: Launch initial commercial 5G deployments across primary metropolitan hubs.
The draft strategy builds on foundational field trials conducted by Nepal Telecom in 2023 utilizing 60 MHz of mid-band spectrum in the 2600 MHz band across Kathmandu (Babarmahal and Sundhara), Pokhara, and Birgunj, which recorded peak data throughput of up to 1 Gbps.
"Work is underway to accelerate allocation of the spectrum required for 5G," Min Prasad Aryal, Director at the Nepal Telecommunications Authority, stated, noting that the regulator is preparing necessary frequency bands while leaving architectural network design and upgrade paths to operators' commercial choices.
To overcome severe geographic constraints, the roadmap mandates a hybrid deployment strategy. In dense metropolitan zones, operators will deploy small cells (microcells, picocells, and femtocells) alongside carrier aggregation to alleviate urban network bottlenecks. In mountainous and remote topographies where physical fiber rollout is cost-prohibitive, Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) supported by high-capacity microwave backhaul will serve as the primary vehicle for high-speed digital inclusion.
The NTA emphasized that transitioning legacy users—who currently account for less than 3% of data traffic—off 3G will allow operators to refarm critical spectrum into efficient 4G and 5G layers, supporting wider applications across telemedicine, disaster risk management, smart agriculture, and tourism.
