Nepal Telecom Suffers Major Nationwide 4G And Voice Outage: Core Network Failure Disrupts Services For Millions

28th July 2025, Kathmandu

On Monday, a significant technical glitch brought Nepal Telecom’s services to a near standstill across the entire nation, plunging millions of customers into digital darkness. The disruption, which began around 1:45 PM NST, left a vast number of users without 4G internet access and, critically, severely limited their ability to make or receive phone calls. Reports from company sources and a flood of public complaints confirmed the widespread impact of the problem, which persisted for several hours, causing considerable inconvenience and frustration.

Nepal Telecom System Down

While the complete mobile data outage immediately captured widespread attention due to its immediate impact on daily digital lives, many users simultaneously grappled with severe call quality issues. These included frequent call drops, frustratingly delayed connections, and, in numerous instances, a complete inability to complete voice calls altogether, effectively cutting off essential communication lines for a substantial portion of the population.

Core Network Failure Behind the Outage

According to official statements from Nepal Telecom (NTC) officials, the fundamental cause of this extensive service disruption was identified as a critical technical failure within the core system. This core system is the central nervous system that underpins and supports Nepal Telecom’s entire 4G infrastructure. A fault developed within this vital core system, which is indispensable for the operation of mobile data services and certain routing functions, leading directly to the nationwide collapse of data services.

Nabin Kumar Mishra, the Deputy Spokesperson of Nepal Telecom, provided confirmation of the issue, stating that the main core of the 4G network had indeed experienced a fault. He assured the public that engineers were immediately dispatched and had begun intensive repair work as soon as the problem was identified. “The issue has been traced back to the 4G core system, and restoration efforts are currently underway,” Mishra articulated during a recent interview, offering a glimpse into the immediate actions being taken by the telecom giant.

Further elaborating on the extent of the impact, Rabindra Manandhar, another NTC spokesperson, added crucial details, noting that the disruption was not confined solely to mobile data. He explicitly mentioned that voice calls were also intermittently dropping or proving impossible to connect for many users. Customers vividly expressed their frustration, describing scenarios where calls would ring only to get disconnected abruptly, or simply fail to connect in the first place, leaving them isolated from their intended contacts.

Impact on Users Nationwide

The widespread nature of this disruption was profoundly evident, affecting both densely populated urban centers and remote rural areas equally. The immediate aftermath saw a surge of frustrated users taking to various social media platforms to voice their grievances. Many reported critical losses of connectivity during crucial moments, such as important business meetings, time-sensitive financial transactions, and even ongoing online classes, highlighting the deep integration of telecom services into modern life.

Businesses across Nepal, particularly those heavily reliant on mobile payment systems, internet-based communications, and online operations, faced severe operational difficulties. Given that Nepal Telecom stands as one of the largest and most dominant telecom providers in the country, such extensive outages carry widespread socio-economic implications. In an increasingly digital economy, where daily commerce, communication, and public services are heavily mediated by connectivity, an outage of this scale can cause significant economic ripple effects and societal inconvenience.

Not the First Time

Worryingly, this recent incident marks a recurring pattern for Nepal Telecom, as this is not the first time the company has faced a massive service outage in recent months. A mere two months prior, the company endured another significant breakdown where a trifecta of essential services—voice, data, and SMS services—were simultaneously disrupted. Although today’s specific issue appears to have predominantly impacted data and voice calls, its occurrence underscores persistent and recurring vulnerabilities within the company’s foundational infrastructure.

Such frequent and widespread issues are inevitably raising serious questions among the public and industry experts regarding the overall resilience and fundamental capacity of Nepal’s digital backbone. This concern is particularly acute given that numerous critical sectors, including the vital banking industry, the education system, and essential health services, have become increasingly dependent on uninterrupted and robust telecom services for their daily functioning and long-term development.

Efforts Underway, But No Definite Timeline

As of the latest reports, Nepal Telecom’s dedicated technical teams remain actively engaged in intensive efforts to fully resolve the lingering issue. However, despite their diligent work, Nepal Telecom has not yet released a precise or definitive timeline for the complete restoration of all services. In the interim, users have been advised to remain vigilant and stay updated through the official NTC website and its various social media channels for the latest information and updates regarding service restoration.

This incident profoundly underscores the critical importance of implementing robust network redundancy measures, conducting regular and thorough system audits, and establishing rapid response frameworks within Nepal’s rapidly expanding digital infrastructure. While temporary and localized outages are sometimes an unavoidable reality in complex technical systems, the alarming recurrence of such widespread and impactful failures demands a fundamental strategic rethink from both the company itself and the relevant regulatory authorities responsible for overseeing the telecom sector.

Conclusion

The latest and widespread disruption in Nepal Telecom’s vital services has once again starkly exposed the underlying fragility of the nation’s core telecom infrastructure. With the undeniable and accelerating dependence of the entire population on reliable digital communication for virtually every aspect of daily life, consistent and robust service delivery is no longer merely an option; it has unequivocally become an absolute essential. As millions of users anxiously await the full restoration of all services, the collective demand for enhanced accountability from the telecom provider and the urgent implementation of long-term, comprehensive technical upgrades to prevent future occurrences becomes ever more pressing and undeniable.

For More: Nepal Telecom System Down