South Asian internet pioneers honoured at 44th SANOG conference in Kathmandu

KATHMANDU: Leading figures who helped build the internet across South Asia were honoured at the 44th South Asian Network Operators Group (SANOG) conference, held over three days in Kathmandu.

The Internet Enablers Awards were presented to Dilip Agrawal (Nepal), Neeraj Sonker and Suchit Nanda (India), Tariq Mustafa (Pakistan), Sumon Ahmed Sabir (Bangladesh) and Jichen Thinley (Bhutan). 
In a press release on Sunday, organisers said the recipients played key roles in expanding access and building the infrastructure that enabled widespread internet use across the region.

SANOG, the premier community-driven forum for Internet infrastructure professionals in South Asia, noted that Neeraj Sonker helped launch India’s first commercial internet service, GIAS, through VSNL in 1995, while Suchit Nanda introduced many users to online communication via Bulletin Board Systems before commercial services began. Sumon Ahmed Sabir was recognised for three decades of work including contributions to BDCOM, and Jichen Thinley was honoured for his early work on internet development and the expansion of GSM mobile networks in Bhutan.

Dilip Agrawal received Nepal’s first Internet Enablers Award for founding WorldLink in 1995 from a single personal computer and modem and growing it into the country’s largest internet service provider. Under his leadership, WorldLink moved from dial-up to Metro Ethernet and built one of Nepal’s largest Fibre-to-the-Home networks, extending high-speed broadband to remote areas including Karnali.

The Internet Enablers initiative began after the Covid19 pandemic as a way to acknowledge the technical leaders whose work underpins modern digital services. Many of those contributions remain little known outside technical circles, and the awards aim to preserve the history of internet development across the Asia-Pacific region.

SANOG Founder Gaurav Raj Upadhyaya of Nepal was previously recognised by Internet Enablers as an Asia-Pacific internet pioneer. The conference continued to bring together regional network professionals to share expertise and discuss the ongoing expansion of internet infrastructure.