Mount Everest Gets 3G Coverage

Can you hear me now? Ambitious climbers can now theoretically check their email from the top of the world, because new 3G mobile network service station was installed at the base of Mount Everest yesterday, CNN reports. At an altitude of 17,000 feet, it’s the highest such base station in the world, and should extend service all the way to Everest’s summit—though no one’s actually tested it yet.

Aimed mostly at tourists, the network gets speeds of up to 3.6 MB per second, and can be used by up to 50 people at a time, though both capacities could be boosted if there’s enough demand. The network belongs to Ncell, a Nepalese phone and internet provider which is partially owned and operated by Sweden’s Teliasonera. Teliasonera boasts that it also has the world’s lowest 3G base station, deep in a mine in Europe. (More Mount Everest stories.)