Internet reaches Everest summit: telecoms firm

Everest climbers will be able to make video calls

PTI | October 30, 2010



Climbers at the top of Mount Everest, the world's highest peak, will now be able to make video calls and surf the Internet on their mobile phones, a Nepalese telecom group claims.

Ncell, a subsidiary of Swedish phone giant TeliaSonera, said yesterday it had set up a high-speed third-generation (3G) phone base station at an altitude of 5,200 meters (17,000 feet) near Gorakshep village in the Everest region.

"Today we made the (world's) highest video call from Mount Everest base camp successfully. The coverage of the network will reach up to the peak of the Everest," Ncell Nepal chief, Pasi Koistinen told reporters in Kathmandu.

The installation will also help tens of thousands of tourists and trekkers who visit the world's highest mountain every year.

Climbers who reached its 8,848-metre peak previously, depended on expensive and erratic satellite phone coverage and a voice-only network set up by China Mobile in 2007, on the Chinese side of the mountain.

"This is a great milestone for mobile communications as the 3G high speed internet will bring faster, more affordable telecommunication services, from the world's tallest mountain," said Lars Nyberg, chief executive of TeliaSonera, which owns 80 percent of Ncell.

The 3G services will be fast enough to make video calls and use the Internet, said the company, which also claims the world's lowest 3G base at 1,400 meters (4,595 feet) below sea level, in a mine in Europe.

Despite the installation in Everest, telecom services cover less than one-third of the 28 million people of Nepal, one of the poorest countries in the world.

TeliaSonera said it planned to invest 100 million dollars in the next year, to ensure that mobile coverage increases to more than 90 percent of the Himalayan nation's population.

The 3G network on Everest puts TeliaSonera ahead of state-controlled Nepal Telecom, Indian-owned United Telecom and China Mobile.

 

Comments

 

Other News

India reaffirms commitment to climate multilateralism

India has reaffirmed its commitment to climate multilateralism and the principles of Equity and Common But Differentiated Responsibilities and Respective Capabilities (CBDR-RC), calling for a fair, equitable and ambitious outcome at the 31st Conference of the Parties (COP31) to the United Nations Framewo

How the mind can help the body heal itself

Why do some people recover from illness against all odds? Can our beliefs, emotions and consciousness influence the body’s ability to heal? Drawing on over three decades of experience in medicine, research and medical innovation, internationally trained ophthalmologist and author Dr Dinesh Verma ex

1,364 anti-cancer formulations to cost less from today

The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA), under the Department of Pharmaceuticals, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers, has capped trade margins on the Maximum Retail Price (MRP) of 137 anti-cancer drugs. This was based on the recommendations of an Expert Committee constitute

Who checks the books?

I read about the news about the Coimbatore library over coffee this morning. On the face of it, the headline was about a political ‘war’ between the DMK and TVK. But what stayed with me was something much more important than the blame game behind what had transpired. A writer walking through

Development paradox: Falling poverty miracle and an inequality problem

India’s reduction in poverty over the past decade is a development achievement of considerable significance. The World Bank’s April 2026 ‘India Development Update’ estimates that the share of Indians living below the international extreme-poverty line of $3.00 per person per day i

In Arunachal, a river we call mother

In Arunachal Pradesh, the Siang is not just a river. For many of us, especially the Adi people, it is part of our family. Our grandparents fished in it. Children learned to swim in it. Our farms drink from it. When someone says a huge dam will be built on it, we do not hear the word "project".

Upcoming Conferences



-->

Archives

Current Issue

Opinion

Facebook Twitter Google Plus Linkedin Subscribe Newsletter

Twitter