Introduction

My name is Marianne and I live in Kathmandu. I work at the Mountain Forum (www.mtnforum.org) which is a web-based platform for sharing knowledge and information about mountains. Here in Nepal, mobile phones are often about the only means of communicating in some of the remote areas. The main mobile telephone service providers are making rapid progress in many of the mountainous areas. Problems do persist however, with unreliable connections and areas where maybe one provider works, but others don't. Another problem is how to recharge mobile telephones in the araes where there is no electricity or even a shortage of solar-powered means for recharging. I have recently sent a small solar recharger to a village in the foothills of the Everest area to help recharge mobile phones. I look forward to an interesting discussion on the challenges mobile phones face in rural areas.