LHASA -- The world's highest mobile phone base station carried out a successful test on Mount Qomolangma, also known as Mount Everest, yesterday.
The station at an altitude of 6,500 meters is run by China Mobile, the country's largest mobile phone service provider. It will provide services to mountaineers on the world's highest peak and the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games torch relay team.
A worker called the mobile phone of Wang Jianzhou, general manager of China Mobile, at 1:00 p.m. via the station and the conversation was clear, said a spokesman with the company.
The spokesman said the construction of the station was "incredibly difficult" as the oxygen level there is only 38 percent of the normal amount.
Immediately after the phone call, workers packed away the equipment for the winter, during which temperatures on Mount Qomolangma fall to as low as 30-50 degrees Celsius.
The components will be assembled again before the Olympic torch relay which is scheduled for next May, the spokesman said.
An official with Tibet Mobile, the Tibetan subsidiary of China Mobile, said they would base the station's operation period on the needs of mountaineers and scientific surveys.
