AGL 40.33 Increased By ▲ 0.32 (0.8%)
AIRLINK 127.50 Decreased By ▼ -0.49 (-0.38%)
BOP 6.62 Increased By ▲ 0.02 (0.3%)
CNERGY 4.51 Decreased By ▼ -0.09 (-1.96%)
DCL 8.60 Increased By ▲ 0.12 (1.42%)
DFML 41.80 Increased By ▲ 0.32 (0.77%)
DGKC 87.75 Increased By ▲ 1.17 (1.35%)
FCCL 32.86 Increased By ▲ 0.72 (2.24%)
FFBL 65.20 Decreased By ▼ -0.22 (-0.34%)
FFL 10.32 Increased By ▲ 0.07 (0.68%)
HUBC 110.00 Decreased By ▼ -0.49 (-0.44%)
HUMNL 14.80 Increased By ▲ 0.05 (0.34%)
KEL 5.12 Decreased By ▼ -0.01 (-0.19%)
KOSM 7.54 Increased By ▲ 0.42 (5.9%)
MLCF 41.70 Increased By ▲ 0.05 (0.12%)
NBP 59.67 Decreased By ▼ -0.42 (-0.7%)
OGDC 194.80 Increased By ▲ 0.11 (0.06%)
PAEL 28.25 Increased By ▲ 0.30 (1.07%)
PIBTL 7.83 Decreased By ▼ -0.17 (-2.13%)
PPL 152.48 Increased By ▲ 1.31 (0.87%)
PRL 26.65 Decreased By ▼ -0.23 (-0.86%)
PTC 16.24 Increased By ▲ 0.24 (1.5%)
SEARL 86.02 Increased By ▲ 7.82 (10%)
TELE 7.63 Increased By ▲ 0.24 (3.25%)
TOMCL 35.50 Decreased By ▼ -0.17 (-0.48%)
TPLP 8.15 Increased By ▲ 0.24 (3.03%)
TREET 16.18 Increased By ▲ 0.29 (1.83%)
TRG 52.85 Increased By ▲ 0.09 (0.17%)
UNITY 26.74 Increased By ▲ 0.19 (0.72%)
WTL 1.25 Decreased By ▼ -0.02 (-1.57%)
BR100 9,941 Increased By 20.6 (0.21%)
BR30 30,872 Increased By 120.5 (0.39%)
KSE100 93,732 Increased By 507.8 (0.54%)
KSE30 29,051 Increased By 165.6 (0.57%)

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, says it has set up a high-speed third-generation (3G) phone base station at an altitude of 5,200 metres (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," Ncell Nepal chief Pasi Koistinen told reporters in Kathmandu on Thursday. "The coverage of the network will reach up to the peak of the Everest," he added.
Climbers who reached Everest's 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. The installation will also help tens of thousands of tourists and trekkers who visit the Everest region every year.
"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 metres (4,595 feet) below sea level in a mine in Europe.
A total of eight base stations, four of which will run on solar power, have been installed in the Everest region with the lowest at 2,870 metres (9,400 feet) at Lukla, where the airport for the area is situated.
Company engineers braved low temperatures and winds to set up the infrastructure. Mountaineers hailed the launch as ambitious and helpful. "The erratic and expensive satellite connection that many times does not work for days will be replaced with this service, making it possible for all climbers to keep in touch with their organisers and family," said Ang Tshering Sherpa, a member of the International Mountain Protection Commission.
"This will also be helpful, possibly, when there is an accident or an expedition mishap," he added 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.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2010

Comments

Comments are closed.