Getting this feature to work on a smartphone is a bit of a hack, and for now it will only work with the freshly released Pixel 4. Google is using Dual Sim Dual Standby (DSDS) hardware to connect to two networks at once, which isn't that crazy of an idea, but it's using DSDS to connect twice to the same network, that network being Google Fi. You'll have to have Fi activated on the internal eSim chip and have a physical card installed in the device, allowing your two SIMs to each pick one of Fi's MVNO networks. If you've been a purely eSIM Google Fi user, which normally needs no physical SIM chip, you'll need to order a physical SIM card, which you can do for free through the Google Fi app.

As the name suggests, "Dual Sim Dual Standby" only allows you to listen to two networks at once for incoming messages; you can't actually use both networks at once. If Google really wanted to flex on other mobile networks, it could make a Dual Sim Dual Active (DSDA) phone that works on Google Fi, which would give it the ability to connect and suck down data from two networks at once. Then imagine aggregating both of the connections into one super-speedy connection made of two LTE networks. It's not a totally unheard of idea—Samsung has shipped a "download booster" on its phones for some time now, which uses your WI-Fi and LTE connections simultaneously to speed up some downloads.

Doing this with two LTE networks would be more complicated, as DSDA phones require dual receivers, and the carriers might not like it. Google Fi already requires phones to be specially designed for Fi for its network switching (normal phones still work, though), and if you're doing custom phone hardware for Fi, at this point you might as well go for it.

Google says dual connect will be ready for the Pixel 4 as usual as part of a slow rollout that will take weeks to hit everyone. Google says it will "expand dual connect technology to more Designed for Fi devices" at some point in the future. A good bet for future support is the Pixel 3a, which already supports DSDS, just not on Google Fi. Another possibility is the Pixel 3, which supported DSDS during the Android 10 Beta, but the feature was cut for launch.

Telecom operator Ncell has begun preparations to bring satellite-based connectivity to areas of Rasuwa still cut off from mobile service following the devastating Bhotekoshi floods. The initiative aims to reconnect communities that have had no telecom access since the disaster struck.

To get the necessary equipment into the affected region, Ncell is arranging chartered flights, since ground access to several of the hardest-hit areas remains difficult. Technical teams are being sent alongside the equipment to begin setup as soon as it arrives on site.

According to the company, roughly 20 locations across Rasuwa remain without any telecom coverage. Ncell has indicated that further details about how the satellite service will be rolled out are expected within the next few days.

The scale of the damage has been significant. The floods destroyed more than 60 kilometers of Ncell's fiber-optic links and knocked out 27 mobile towers spread across Nuwakot, Rasuwa, and Dhading districts. Of those, 24 sites have already been brought back online as repair crews continue working through the affected areas.

Ncell says its technical staff are continuing repair and restoration work around the clock as the company works to bring full connectivity back to the region.