The Indian Army with the help of the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has achieved a rare feat of establishing a mobile tower and base transceiver station (BT) at the Siachen Glacier, the world’s highest battlefield. 

The tower was inaugurated on October 6 and provides mobile connectivity to the soldiers posted there at an altitude of over 15,000 feet.

The setting up of a mobile tower on the Siachen Glacier is a significant achievement, given the harsh conditions with temperatures dipping to minus 30 to 40 degrees and the ongoing conflict between India and Pakistan in the region.

The tower will provide soldiers with a much-needed lifeline to their families and loved ones, and it will also improve their ability to communicate with each other and with their commanders.

A base transceiver station is a radio transceiver that connects mobile devices to a cellular network. It sends and receives radio signals to mobile devices and converts them to digital signals that are then routed to other devices in the network or to the Internet.

“Siachen warriors, in collaboration with BSNL, established the first ever BSNL BTS at forward posts of the highest battlefield on October 6 to extend mobile communication for the soldiers deployed at more than 15,500 feet,” the Fire and Fury Corps of the Indian Army posted on X on Friday.

Union Minister of State for Communications, Devusinh Chauhan also took to X to share about this incredible development. He wrote, “The BSNL with Siachen warriors installs first-ever mobile tower at Siachen Glacier. Now our heroes can talk to their near and dear ones at their convenience. Kudos to @BSNLCorporate and #SiachenWarriors.”

Lauding the feat, industrialist Anand Mahindra also shared how this “seemingly small event in our turbulent world” is in fact a “big news.”

He wrote, “These are photos shared by @devusinh of the first ever mobile tower installed in Siachen! A seemingly small event in our turbulent world. But it means our jawans who put their lives on the line every single day on the world’s highest battlefield to defend us are now strongly connected to their families. For them, this device is as important as the Vikram Lander. To me, this is really BIG news.”

The Indian Army was deployed there as part of Operation Meghdoot on April 13, 1984 to secure the Siachen Glacier, which was important from a strategic point of view since the glacier shares boundaries with Pakistan and China.