KATHMANDU, Nepal, Oct. 29 (UPI) -- The Internet has ascended Mount Everest and climbers can now make video calls, a Nepalese telecom firm said Friday.
Ncell, a subsidiary of the Swedish company TeliaSonera, told the BBC it has installed eight 3G base stations along the route to the Everest base camp. The highest is at 17,000 feet.
Climbers and trekkers in the area previously have had only satellite phones and a voice-only mobile network with which to communicate.
Ncell CEO Pasi Koistinen said the coverage will reach the summit, but it has not yet been tested.
The 3G network will help climbers and trekkers keep in touch with their families and trip organizers, Koistinen said. It will also let them get weather reports and safety information.
About 3,000 people have climbed to the summit since Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay conquered Everest in 1953 and used runners to carry messages to the nearest telegraph office.
TeliaSonera also said it would invest more than $100 million in the next year to increase mobile coverage in Nepal, where less than a third of the population has telecommunication services.
