Tanzania has installed high-speed internet on Mount Kilimanjaro — to help tourists take selfies at 12,000 feet.
Adventurers scaling the tallest mountain in Africa will now be able to access the internet and upload snaps to Instagram following the launch of the service.
The technological feat on one of the volcano's three peaks comes ahead of another mission to establish more signal on Uhuru Peak later this year, which stands 19,000ft above sea level.
In a tweet on Tuesday (August 16), Tanzania’s minister of information and communication Nape Moses Nnauye said the achievement meant broadband had now been installed on the "roof of Africa ".
Speaking at an event announcing the move, Nnauye said: "Previously, it was a bit dangerous for visitors and porters who had to operate without internet
"All visitors will get connected... [up to] this point of the mountain."
A similar scheme named Everest Link provides services to the remote Himalayan mountain region in Nepal, with its mast at Everest Base Camp at 17,600ft making it currently the world's highest internet service.
As well as being the tallest mountain in Africa, Mount Kilimanjaro is also the highest single free-standing peak above sea level in the world.
It is now a popular tourist destination, attracting around 35,000 people every year, as well as a sizable source of income for the nation of Tanzania.
Tourist revenue connected to the mountain totals approximately $50 million (£41,500,000) per year, according to estimates.
An announcement from the Tanzanian government in March 2021 that it had awarded a contract for the construction of a cable car on the southern side of the mountain meanwhile prompted outcry from mountaineers, travel companies and environmental activists.
One travel agent from the US named Wil Smith who has sold trips to the mountain for twenty years said in a letter he would now stop should the plan go ahead, writing: “If the proposed cable car is constructed, we will no longer promote Kilimanjaro as a natural and scenic destination, and we will advise travellers to avoid the area”
