nepal - Case Study Wireless Internet in the Khumbu Region of the Nepalese Himalayas Submitted by Dileep Agrawal Managing Director WorldLink

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.