Internet and telephone services have been disrupted in various settlements of Humla and Mugu districts after a technical fault developed in the link device of telecom towers located in Mugu, and Nepal Telecom has said the problem can be fixed only after the Dashain festival. The disruption has persisted since last week, according to the Nepal Telecom office in Mugu, leaving users in the coverage areas of the affected towers without dependable mobile internet or telephone connectivity.
Link Device Fault Behind the Outage
The problem lies in the link device of towers situated at Natharpu in Rugha and Soru Rural Municipalities of Mugu district. According to Umesh Chaudhary, head of the Nepal Telecom Mugu office, the technical problem in the 4G tower has persisted since last week.
A link device is the equipment that carries signals between a telecom tower and the wider network. When the device fails, the tower itself may continue to operate, but calls and mobile data can no longer be exchanged with the rest of the network. The result is that everyone depending on the affected towers for coverage loses access to internet and telephone services, even if their handsets continue to show a signal.
Because the affected towers serve areas that reach beyond Mugu itself, the disruption is also being felt across the district border in Humla. Reports published by Nagarik News and Khabarhub note that various settlements in both districts have been affected by the outage, which stems from a single technical fault at the tower site.
Key Facts at a Glance
- Services affected: internet and telephone
- Cause: fault in the link device of towers at Natharpu in Rugha and Soru Rural Municipalities of Mugu
- Areas affected: various settlements of Humla and Mugu districts
- Operator: Nepal Telecom, through its Mugu office
- Duration: problem has persisted since last week
- Expected restoration: only after Dashain, according to Nepal Telecom
A Lifeline Disrupted in Remote Districts
Humla and Mugu are among the more remote districts of Karnali Province, where settlements are scattered across difficult terrain and physical connectivity remains limited. In such areas, mobile networks often function as the primary link between residents and the outside world, used for everything from personal calls to coordination of daily business and access to online services.
An interruption of the kind now affecting these settlements therefore goes beyond a simple inconvenience. Without telephone or internet access, residents in the coverage areas of the affected towers have been cut off from routine communication, and reaching family members, offices or services that depend on mobile connectivity becomes significantly harder.
The timing adds to the difficulty. Dashain, Nepal's largest festival, is approaching, a period when family members who live and work away from their home districts traditionally keep in touch by phone. With the towers serving Humla and Mugu out of operation, many households in the affected settlements face the prospect of the festival period without dependable communication links.
Repairs Awaited Until After Dashain
Nepal Telecom has said the fault can be fixed only after Dashain, meaning users in the affected areas will have to wait longer for normal service to resume. Chaudhary confirmed that the technical problem in the 4G tower has persisted since last week and that the company has indicated the repair will take place once the festival is over.
For the residents of Humla and Mugu, that timeline means an extended period without internet and telephone services. Until technicians are able to repair the faulty link device, those living in the affected settlements will have to rely on whatever alternative means of communication are available to them.
The case also underlines how heavily remote districts depend on a small number of towers and network elements. When a single link device fails at a tower site serving multiple settlements across two districts, entire communities can lose connectivity at once, and restoration depends on technical teams being able to reach the site and complete the work.
For now, Nepal Telecom's position that the link device can be fixed only after Dashain remains the clearest timeline available for the restoration of internet and telephone services in Humla and Mugu, leaving users in the affected settlements to wait for the festival to pass before their connections return.
