Mahabir Pun, the Internet Hall of Fame inductee was awarded the prestigious Jonathan B. Postel Service Award for his work in bringing the Internet to the most remote villages in Nepal.
Pun’s has played an important role in bringing the Internet to Nepal, increasing digital literacy and education access for the rural Himalayan region through his Nepal Wireless Networking Project. He founded the Nepal Wireless Networking Project in 2002 to build a local communication network using wireless technology to connect people in the Himalayan communities.
Pun was selected by an international award committee, comprised of former Jonathan B. Postel award winners, which placed particular emphasis on candidates who have supported and enabled others in addition to their own specific actions.
In 2002, Pun’s connected the people of remote villages of Nepal by bringing the Internet to rural schools. Faced with many obstacles, Pun had to build a wireless network in the remote Himalayan region using Wi-Fi, which was an emerging technology at the time. In addition, he had to contend with the government of Nepal’s ban on the importation and use of wireless equipment because of fighting between Maoist rebels and government forces. He was also confronted with the fact that many of the villages did not have roads, electricity, and phone lines, and had never seen computers. In spite of these difficulties, by 2013, Pun helped connect more than 175 remote villages in 15 districts of Nepal. Today, these communities are all benefiting from the Internet, with e-learning, e-healthcare, communication, and local e-commerce.
In 2007, Pun received the Ramon Magsaysay Award from the Philippines for his “community leadership and innovative application of wireless technology in Nepal, bringing progress to remote mountain areas by connecting his village to the global village.” The award has been called “the Nobel Prize of Asia.” Pun also received an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from the University of Nebraska, along with many national and international awards and recognition.
The award is named for Dr. Jonathan B. Postel to recognize and commemorate the extraordinary stewardship exercised by Jon over the course of a 30 year career in networking. He served as the editor of the RFC series of notes from its inception in 1969 until 1998. He also served as the ARPANET “numbers Czar” and Internet Assigned Numbers Authority over the same period of time. He was a founding member of the Internet Architecture (nee Activities) Board and the first individual member of the Internet Society, where he also served as a Trustee.
