Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Mount Fuji Gets 4G Wireless

Posted by timothy on from the bars-aren't-just-for-atmospheric-pressure dept.

alphadogg writes "Japan's most famous mountain now has 4G coverage. An LTE network on Mount Fuji went live Thursday, providing download speeds of up to 75Mbps on its peak, mountain trails, and rest huts. NTT DoCoMo, Japan's largest mobile operator, will provide access to its subscribers as part of its 'Xi' service. DoCoMo said it will provide the service from Thursday through the end of August, to correspond with the mountain's busy climbing season. Tourists are expected to turn out in record numbers this year because Mount Fuji has been named a World Heritage site by Unesco."

18 comments

  1. Good news by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Now climbers can report Mothra sightings.

  2. Surprised! by hcs_$reboot · · Score: 2

    Many people climb Mt Fuji (3,800m) during the warm season. For those who think the top of the mountain is a deserted place: on the top of Mr Fuji you find vending machines and restaurants... so I'm just surprised 4G was not available until now..

    --
    Slashdot, fix the reply notifications... You won't get away with it...
    1. Re:Surprised! by dywolf · · Score: 3, Funny

      that's better than the one for Everest at least then. the image that keeps coming to mind is:
      -"Belay on!"
      -"Hold on, I'm tweeting our status"

      --
      The guy who said the election was rigged won the presidency with the second-most votes.
    2. Re:Surprised! by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 1

      Status: "I'm high"? Welcome to Mount 4G.

      --
      Ezekiel 23:20
    3. Re:Surprised! by radarskiy · · Score: 1

      "you find vending machines"

      That's hardly notable in Japan.

    4. Re:Surprised! by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 2

      Many people climb Mt Fuji (3,800m) during the warm season. For those who think the top of the mountain is a deserted place: on the top of Mr Fuji you find vending machines and restaurants... so I'm just surprised 4G was not available until now..

      I climbed Mt Fuji in the summer of 1991. There were was a restaurant then, but no vending machines. I bought and ate a bowl of hot noodles before descending. It is a nice mountain to climb, with great views. It was about a four hour ascent, with no technical climbing (just hiking). The descent is easy because you can walk down through areas of loose pumice and slide an extra half meter or so with each step. Dress warm, because even in July there was sleet and snow on the summit. If my memory is correct, the trailhead is about two hours by train and bus from Tokyo, so you could do it as a day trip.

  3. Climb Every Mountain by rossdee · · Score: 1

    Is there any mountain that doesn't have 4g wireless these days?
    (There was a story not so long ago that Mt Everest also had 4g wireless (Ed Hillary and Tenzing Norkay are turning in thier graves)

    1. Re:Climb Every Mountain by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      None in Yosemite have 4G ... near the Lower Yosemite Falls I think there is one lonely tower from a single provider and nothing else in the valley? In fact, do any big climbs in US national parks have cell service?

      AFAICT Mt Fuji now has faster internet than most of the USA. 75Mbps? I wish!!!!

    2. Re:Climb Every Mountain by ProzacPatient · · Score: 1

      Clearly you haven't been to a state park in the United States.
      I've been to several and there is very rarely any kind of cell coverage let alone data within or even anywhere near those parks.

  4. i've never been to Mount Fuji by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    didn't know that Mount Fuji is so popular. thanks for sharing the article. come to think of it, i should read more about Mount Fuji as a tourist destination. i can't use the 4G because my phone only supports 2.5G (GPRS), 900 MHz and 1900 MHz. i now, its an old cell phone. lol

  5. This is a Good Thing? by ks*nut · · Score: 1

    So I save up my pennies and travel half way around the world to climb one of the truly iconic mountain peaks only to have people yammering on their cell phones on the trail and vending machines at the summit? Thanks for the warning, that's one less item on my bucket list. By the way, how does 4G fit in with Mt. Fuji being listed as a World Heritage site?

    1. Re:This is a Good Thing? by 0123456 · · Score: 1

      So I save up my pennies and travel half way around the world to climb one of the truly iconic mountain peaks only to have people yammering on their cell phones on the trail and vending machines at the summit?

      There have been vending machines and souvenir shops at the summit for decades. You don't think Japanese people would spend hours climbing a mountain if they couldn't buy Pocari Sweat at the top, do you?

  6. I have done this hike by Applehu+Akbar · · Score: 1

    Prepare for doing the math: Fujiyama may be climbed only in July and August, and it is everyone's duty to do it once in a lifetime. Yep, that means a continuous stream of pilgrims from the midpoint of the climb, where the train from Tokyo deposits them, and the summit. There are five "stations", or resthouses, along the way, each one a writhing mass of concessions and milling climbers. When you reach the top, typically after dark, you bunk down in the summit resthouse, to be awakened before dawn so that everyone can catch "goraiko", the special word for 'Sunrise from the top of Fukiyama'. When the sun comes up you hear a peal of thunder, the sound of a million shutters ll going off at the same instant. You really need to put this on your bucket list.

    1. Re:I have done this hike by Chang · · Score: 1

      I just climbed it for the second time in late June. There was still plenty of snow and the LTE network was already mostly live on the Fujiyoshida side.

      There is no train to the midpoint of climb. You can get pretty close to the mountain on a train but you need to take a bus or car or a long hike if you want to get to the fifth station.

    2. Re:I have done this hike by slash.dt · · Score: 1
      about 6 years ago I did the hike on the friday night - the season officially started on the Saturday. Virtually no one on the path and got there in 2.5 hours and then spent 3 hours at the top trying to keep warm in all my clothes until the sunrise. Was spectacular.

      A couple of years later I did it again a few weeks into the season - it was a pilgrim trail to the top and took 5.5 hours. ended up sleeping in the 2nd to top hut because it was so frustrating doing the walk.

      A wise man climbs Fuji-san once. A foolish man climbs Fuji-san twice.

  7. How about the Bay Area? by Isara · · Score: 1

    I still can't get 4G or LTE on Sprint in the San Francisco Bay Area. Glad to know I'll be covered if I ever make it to Mt. Fuji.

    --
    BOOP!
  8. Summer only?!? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Don't tell me they are being cheap bastards and using mobile trailers/antennas to provide service, just to avoid the cost of winterizing permanent base stations...