Afterword

ThimphuTech was the first technology blog in Bhutan. We started writing it in 2009, just as broadband and mobile internet started to take off. (Although internet in Bhutan was launched in 1999, it was either super-slow or super-expensive, and was only used by a selected few).

In the blog, we wrote about technology and food, but also about plenty of other stuff. The blog became popular and influential in Bhutan. A companion bi-weekly column -- Ask Boaz -- was published for many years in the Kuensel, Bhutan's national newspaper. (The complete Kuensel columns are available as an ebook, Blogging with Dragons).

We stopped updating the blog when we left Bhutan in 2014, but the information within the posts can still prove useful, and thus we decided to keep it online.

We thank all our readers.
Tashi Delek,
Boaz & Galit.

Monday, March 7, 2011

Bhutan Telecom Internet woes

Surfing out-of-Bhutan websites came to a crawl this morning (accessing .bt websites is speedy). Internet outages are not uncommon in Bhutan, and most Internet-addicted consumers can survive a few hours without updating their Facebook status (usually not without withdrawal symptoms).
However, companies considering setting up shop in Thimphu's upcoming IT park are much more sensitive about online availability, and will usually not tolerate these kind of outages. Anyway, the folks at Bhutan Telecom are aware of the problem. The BT website (www.druknet.bt), which is the most obvious place to update the public, has zero information about the outage.

P.S.: If you got an SMS from Bhutan Telecom notifying you that their toll free numbers (17001700, 116, 140) have changed to 1600 last week, ignore that message. Keep calling 17001700, as I've just tried 1600 and it does not work.

2 comments:

  1. Boaz, I am surprised that you have shaped yourself well to fit in among us and be tolerant. I just wish someone from outside opens an ISP in Bhutan, seriously I am sick of the service provided by Bhutan Telecom. Their services falls far short of their experience in the business. Money is not everything!

    ReplyDelete
  2. yes guys,according to the service provided by the Bhutan telecom i am certainly sure the line up there "technology,food and happiness in Bhutan" should be changed, after all what we receive is not what we should be,the speed and the outage of the internet service should be dealt with! and hopefully the upcoming private companies 'll help in this matter..and yes PaSsu i too agree with u i 2 wish someone from outside should open an ISP in Bhutan but sadly wont be given the permission as this would sink the companies in Bhutan.lolzz....and true "MONEY IS NOT EVERYTHING!"

    ReplyDelete

We love to hear from our readers!
Comments are reviewed before being published, so it might take a few hours before you see your comments posted.

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.