Case Study:
Wireless Internet in the Khumbu Region of the
Nepalese Himalayas
Submitted by:
Dileep Agrawal, Managing Director, WorldLink Communications
Background
Nepal is home to some of the highest mountains in the world.
This gift from nature
attracts thousands of trekkers and hundreds of climbers every year, especially to the
Khumu region of the Himalayas, home to Mount Everest.
Getting to the base camp of
Mount Everest involves a 4-day trek from Lukla, which has regular flights to Kathmandu,
the nation’s capital.
During the climbing season, which lasts a total of 5 months every
year, the area is full of tourists.
The local Sherpas earn good money from the tourist
trade.
Even though this region earns considerable foreign exchange for the Nepalese
government, there is no functional telecommunications infrastructure.
Tourists bring
their own satellite phones for voice and data communications.
The local Sherpas are
completely deprived.
The Problem
Needless to say, lack of telecommunications in such an important part of the country
poses a serious problem.
Tourists need the service to remain in contact.
The locals need
it for development.
The rough mountainous terrain makes the deployment of any infrastructure extremely
difficult and costly.
It is just not possible to lay cables.
Wireless Internet is the only
viable solution.
Thanks to advances in voice-over-IP, the same infrastructure can be used
for voice and Internet access.
The Goals
The goal of this project is to link Namche (the first major settlement on the trek from
Lukla) to the Everest base camp using wireless Internet.
In the process, small villages,
monasteries and tourist spots will also be inter-connected.
The network will be
connected to the global Internet using satellite.
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- Fall '03
- AlexPentland
- Mount Everest, Internet access, Base Camp, Everest Base Camp, Namche
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