Everest Link: World’s tallest mountain has an internet connection too! 

When you hear about the world’s tallest mountain, the Everest, what comes to your mind? The thrill, the adventure, the frigid weather, and of course, disconnected from the rest of the world. Well, wrong! Mount Everest has been far from remote ever since it got its own high-speed internet connectivity called the Everest Link. Take a pause and then come join us to know more about it. 

Everest Link: A sneak peek 
Everest Link is Mount Everest’s very own internet service provider and the only one in the Everest Region. It is located at an elevation of 5380 metres near the Everest Base Camp and is the world’s tallest internet network. Before it was launched in 2014, Everest climbers relied solely on satellite phones for communication.  

Okay, so who founded Everest Link? Well, that would be a sherpa named Tsering Gyaltsen. As it happened, Gyaltsen was accompanying a team of European climbers when one of them suffered a cardiac arrest. But by the time the news could reach the rescuers, it was too late. This shook him and he came back and involved his friends in his Suresh Lama and Posang Wongde. Together, after a lot of serious thought, they decided to pitch the idea of setting up a broadband internet service at the Everest camp to the Nepal government, in order to help foreigners, adapt better.  

At present, the network is dependent upon 36 towers that are all powered by solar energy and offers connectivity from Lukla to the Base Camp. There are at least 200 hotspots (called e500 outdoor Wi-Fi hotspot) that are currently spread across 40 rural settlements. Annually, Everest Link serves 34000 locals and 40000 tourists.  

It serves an entire community 
That’s right. Since its advent, Everest Link has not only provided global communication facilities for the climbers but also helped the locals of the nearby Khumbu region. Projects such as “Hello Doctor” has been possible thanks to this Wi-Fi network that allows free and readily accessible medical consultations to inhabitants of the remotest villages. There are also a few distance-learning programmes that runs on the Everest Link and helps the new-age Everest community at par with the rest of the world.  

Everest Link Card: Keeping trekkers connected 
Apart from the Wi-Fi connection, Everest Link also offers a data card to trekkers called the Everest Link Card. It keeps all the climbers connected and in constant touch while they are on their adventure. In fact, this helps them to keep track of each other and come to one another’s rescue if someone falls behind, gets lost or simply face a danger. Climbers can buy this card at Sales stations located at Kathmandu, Lukla, Namche Bazaar, Dingboche and Gokyo. There are two price packages: 20 dollars for 10 gb of data and 30 dollars for 20 gb of data. Validity of both is a month. However, the card needs to be used at least once daily to stay activated. Interestingly, the Nepal government is now on its way to set up another internet service provider at the Annapurna Base Camp. The primary goal is to boost tourism and improve rescue operations during contingencies.