Ncell puts 3G basestation on Everest

Nepali operator Spice Nepal (Ncell), has installed the first WCDMA base station at an altitude of 5,200m, at the base camp of Mount Everest. The coverage should reach up to the peak of Everest and enable mobile coverage in the Khumbu valley. Previously satellite phones were needed to make calls on Everest. TeliaSonera, the main investor in Spice Nepal, will spend over $100m in 2011 on the network, providing mobile coverage to over 90 per cent of the Nepali population by 2011.