THOSE WHO MAKE it to the top of Everest are a fairly elite group – but now they can share the experience as it happens. A 3G mobile service has been installed around the world’s highest mountain, meaning that climbers, tourists and locals can email, text or call from their mobile phones at the isolated Nepalese outpost.

Ncell, the telecommunications company that has put the service in place, says that the coverage will reach the summit of the 29,000ft-high mountain. The Guardian reports that Ncell’s parent company, the Swedish-based TellaSonera, says that the station near Everest base camp is a communications revolution.

Previously, satellite and mobile voice phones have been used to convey messages from the treacherous slopes of Everest. The Guardian mentions that less than one-third of Nepal’s population has access to a mobile, but that Ncell hope to increase that to about 90 per cent by the end of 2011.

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