Good news for climbers this morning, as Nepal Telecom announce their plans to extend mobile phone coverage to the peak of Mount Everest. Due for completion by the middle of June, climbers will be able to ditch the heavy (and expensive) satellite phones for the latest light and svelte models... assuming they can handle the temperature.
Read on in the full article.
"...wonder where the craziest place is that you know that doesn't have coverage yet, and is it as big a PR draw as the top of the world..."
Aylesbury.
Oh, sorry, I missed the second part of the sentence.
I know a guy that climbed Everest last April and there is no chance of getting a mobile to work up there. The batteries just can't cope. Still good bit of publicity for them 😊
This is old news.... Motorola did a publicity stunt in May 2007, using the then-new Z8 to make a phone call from the top of Everest.
http://www.motosmartphones.com/news/motorola-z8-sets-record-for-highest-phone-call-in-the-world.htm
Stu, that PR was a temporary base station, this appears to be a more pernament solution.
bassey, good catch on the battery, you'd have to keep your phone close to a heat source, say close to a major blood vessel in your body. Which makes a vibrating alarm kinda tricky.
The Chinese have had a cell site covering Everest for some time.