India's Highest Base Station

India's GSM network operator, Airtel (Bharti Televentures) has installed the country's highest elevation base station, at a height of 3,350 meters above sea level - at Qutak Gompa in the Leh district of Northern India. The company currently has four base stations in the area, and plans to scale that up to eight towers in the near future. This should enable GSM coverage for about 80% of the population in the area, including military installations - the district is inside the contested Kashmir state.

"We are delighted to bring our services and connect Leh with the rest of the state. The installation of India's highest GSM cell site at Leh is a testament of our commitment to bring a world class network to the people of J&K. Airtel will continue its endeavour to provide a rich mobile experience to all its valued customers in this region," said R. V. S. Bhullar, CEO, mobility, Bharti Televentures, J&K circle.

Africa's tallest mountain, Mount Kilimanjaro also has a GSM base station on its summit for tourists to use, provided by Vodacom Tanzania - this is at a height of 5,895 metres. Other notable high altitude GSM base stations can be found at La Paz, Bolivia, the highest capital in the world at 4,100 meters and Syangboche, Nepal which is an Everest base camp, at 3,874 meters."

Posted to the site on 10th February 2006