Scattered at the foot of the Bogda Peak in the Tianshan Mountains in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region were 64 families who relied on grazing for a living. Due to the complicated geological conditions and the sparse population, the area was a dead zone for communication signals.
Although the area is ideal for sightseeing, tourists avoid visiting because of undeveloped telecommunication.
That situation changed in the summer of 2021 when a telecom base station was built and went into operation by the end of 2020.
To improve smart phone service, China Telecom Corporation Limited (China Telecom) built optical cables in 5 kilometers around the village, enabling local people to use fast telecommunication network service in the yurts.
With operation of the wireless telecommunication and the optical networks, local people can have smooth phone calls and watch more television programs at home. Some local people also use smart phones to take photos of their yurts, and upload them to the internet, attracting tourists to visit the yurts.
The improved telecommunication also encouraged entrepreneurship in the area.
A 23-year-old Kazak native who used to work for an enterprise based in Urumqi, capital of Xinjiang, returned to his hometown and started an e-commerce business of selling local products like camel milk and mutton via livestreaming.
The cooperative of the village also stepped up efforts to promote beef and mutton through online and offline channels, which increased local people's income.
A villager running a yurt accommodation and restaurant expressed his gratitude to China Telecom and said that with smooth network, more tourists will visit his yurt and they will live a better life.
(Executive editor: Wang Ruoting)
