New York Times: “Hauling the internet to an ex-Soviet outpost high in the Caucasus mountains”

The New York Times has published a multimedia story about efforts to bring internet connectivity to Tusheti, a rural province in the northern part of Georgia and, as the article put it, "one of the world’s most remote places”.

Tusheti’s clean air, crisp blue skies and mountain-studded landscape already attracts some tourists, but government officials think there is potential for many more, the article says.

It added that access to the internet will make it easier for travelers to book reservations online, but it will also stir e-commerce and local business development, and give a lift to health care and education services in the area.

"For now, though, Tusheti has little electricity, and maybe more sheep than people”, added the author.

The story stressed that Tusheti spans about 370 square miles – an area a bit larger than Berlin – but only about 50 people stay through the winter. Temperatures can drop to near zero Fahrenheit, and snow covers the main roads for up to six months.

The article described the efforts of workers to connect the area with the internet and concluded that "the internet will undoubtedly bring the world closer to Tusheti; the question is whether its rustic otherworldliness will disappear”.

• Read the full article here: www.nytimes.com.