Mount Everest is now the earth’s highest hotspot after a Swedish telecommunications company announced the launch of 3G service in Nepal. The chief executive of Ncell, a subsidiary of TeliaSonera, said the highest video call ever had been made from the Mount Everest base camp Friday. The Nepal 3G network will allow climbers mobile Internet from the summit of Everest and bring 21st century telecommunications to one of the world’s poorest countries.
The highest 3G base station within the world
Satellite phones were used by climbers to communicate with the rest of the world before the 3G at Mount Everest. Ncell has set up coverage with a series of eight 3G base stations. Near the Mount Everest base camp which is at 17,000 feet is the village of Gorakshep. That is where the highest had been built. Getting real time weather reports will be handy for the climbers. Everest 3G will even be good for emergency communications. The locals all have to pay to do anything with calling or the web to use satellite phones. Now, Ncell has made a way for locals to surf the web, send e-mails and make calls more easily.
The Everest communications made
3,000 people have made the trip to Mt. Everest and climbed it. This has all been since 1953 when Sir Edmund Hilary first climbed the mountain. Back then climbers used runners to relay messages from their expeditions to the nearest telegraph office. Veikka Gustafsson, a climber living in Nepal for years, told TeliaSonera that when he first came to the Himalayas, satellite phone equipment weighed more than 220 pounds. The China-facing slope of Mount Everest has had partial service given by China Mobile since 2007, but coverage had been voice only.
3G affects Nepal
Less than one-third of Nepal’s population can access telecommunication services. The jagged mountain terrain makes it difficult to build cellular networks and nearly difficult to build land-based networks. The 3G network was something Guafsson talked about. He said:
“It’s hard for people in the Western world to even imagine what it means for people living in distant villages in valleys separated by high mountains when they now make their first phone call to relatives or are able to contact a doctor over the phone.”
You will find 3.7 subscribers to Ncell in Nepal right now. The 3G service is likely to increase that number drastically. TeliaSonera plans to invest a hundred million in Nepal to establish mobile coverage for 90 percent of the population by the end of 2011.
Additional reading
BBC News
bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-11651509
Daily Tech
dailytech.com/Worlds Highest AboveWater Peak Everest Gets Internet Access/article20026.htm
PC Magazine
pcmag.com/article2/,2817,2371750,00.asp
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