Sources from the Hubei Province Mobile Telecommunications Company, the developer of GSM service, said the base stations of the GSM in the Three Gorges Dam area are capable of handling phone calls simultaneously.

The construction site of the Three Gorges Dam covers an area of 15.28 square km. Previously, contacts among design organizations, construction companies and equipment suppliers were limited, as the project developer, the Yangtze River Three Gorges Project Development Corporation, practiced closed management at the construction site, causing the telecommunications signals in the area to be weak.

There was also no China Telecom base station there.

The Hubei Province Mobile Telecommunications Company spent 40 million yuan to bring GSM service to the construction site of the gigantic water control project on the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, China's longest, in early April. Workers completed the construction in just four months.

Chen Xugui, an official with the Engineering Department of the Yangtze River Three Gorges Project Development Corporation, said that he believed the improved telecommunications conditions will not only provide a powerful guarantee for ensuring the successful completion of the dam, but also promote the development of tourism in the Three Gorges area.

He disclosed that his company will cooperate with the China Mobile Group in the near future and invest 100 million yuan in erecting a permanent mobile telecommunications network that will cover the entire Three Gorges Reservoir area.

(People’s Daily)