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Climbers Stoked to Play 'Everquest' on Everest With Nepal's First 3G Network

by Amar Toor on October 28, 2010 at 03:35 PM

mount everest
There may not be a whole lot of people willing to climb Mount Everest, but the brave few who do will now be able to surf the Web from their phones, thanks to a brand new 3G network at Everest base camp.

Installed by the Nepali telecom company Ncell (which we wrote about back in 2009), Nepal's first 3G network will allow intrepid mountain climbers to use their own cell phones to stay in touch with friends and family, and check their Facebook profiles one last time before beginning the epic ascent. Until now, climbers have always had to rely upon bulky and expensive satellite phones to contact the outside world, and Nepal's rocky Himalayan terrain has never been exactly conducive to reliable telecom connections. Today, however, Ncell chief Pasi Koistinen proudly told Reuters that he'd successfully completed the world's "highest video call from Mount Everest," after successfully placing a call from 17,388 feet.

The new network will certainly provide tourists with some much-appreciated modern convenience, but it may bode well for Nepal's cell phone users, as well. Currently, cellular networks cover only a third of the 28 million people living in the country, which is among the poorest in Asia. Next year, though, telecom provider and Ncell stakeholder TeliaSonera will begin investing $100 million to expand its Nepalese coverage, in the hopes of providing more than 90-percent of Nepal's population with mobile access.

For now, at least, trekkers can enjoy one last sip of Internet nectar before huffing and puffing their way to the ceiling of the world -- if, of course, they can tear themselves away from their iPhones long enough to actually leave base camp.

Tags: 3G, asia, cellphones, Climbing, himalayas, Internet, mountains, MountEverest, ncell, Nepal, smartphone, top, trekking

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