Comms Boss to Make ‘Highest Ever Teams Call’ from Mountain Top

Fuse2 CTO Wayne Mills-Kidals is planning to put Microsoft Teams’ direct routing capabilities to the test by making a call from one of the highest mountains in Nepal.

Mills-Kidals will be embarking on a climb of Nepal’s Lobuche East and scaling heights of up to 6,119 metres. The expedition will include a climb to Mount Everest’s base camp before setting off for Lobuche. Along the way he will be testing out Teams’ direct routing service to its limits.

“We thought it would be good to do something different and this idea came up and we decided to put a Microsoft Teams spin on the climb,” he told UC Today.

“We’ll be testing Microsoft Teams out in Nepal using their infrastructure – whether that be WiFi or cellular. They do appear to have a reasonable WiFi and internet system across the Everest base camp route.

“As far as we are aware, this will probably be the highest Teams call made anywhere on the planet on terra firma.”

Mills-Kidals will be using Fuse2’s global SBC estate throughout the process and testing the different latencies.

“The challenge also fits well with our own global footprint, as having points of presence (PoPs) in the Asia-Pacific region ensures the best possible quality of service and experience, regardless of the terrain involved,” he said.

“What does that call latency look like if we’re using the UK PoPs as opposed to Singapore? So we’re going to be doing all of that along the route.”

The CTO is the only member of Fuse2 undertaking the climb, but has the support of the team and vendors, including sponsors Netaxis Solutions, Infinitel Communications, and Ribbon.

Mills-Kidals hasn’t decided on who will be the first recipient of the call from Lobuche’s summit, but said it would likely be family, the Fuse2 team or potentially a sponsor event if the timing is right.

“I’m open to suggestions!” he laughed.

Lockdown restrictions have prevented him from practicing climbs until now and he has been visiting North Wales and the Lake District in recent weeks as part of his preparations, with the goal to climb Ben Nevis in the near future.

The month-long excursion will take place from 25 October and Mills-Kidals is also using the opportunity to raise money for three charities: Macmillan Cancer Support, disability equality charity Scope, and local Nepalese charity Kidasha, which provides vulnerable children with education and the means to live independently.

“Both Macmillan Cancer Support and Scope have been really supportive to family and friends of the Fuse2 team, so it only felt right to return the support,” he said.

“With Kidasha, we wanted to take the opportunity to help a lesser-known charity that’s supporting a great cause – plus it only felt right to give something back to Nepal, as we’ll be climbing their beautiful mountains.”