Monday 30 June 2008

Bhutan : GPRS and 3G service users very low

June 28: The GPRS and 3G services introduced by Bhutan Telecom almost two months back seem to be receiving a bleak response. People say the services are expensive and not very practical.

General Package Radio Services (GPRS) and the 3rd Generation (3G) mobile services which allows one to access internet and email services was launched by Bhutan Telecom in May this year. The service also allows users to send and receives other multi media like pictures, sounds and video clips on mobile phones. The user base for the two services has remained rather low with few thousands for GPRS and more than a hundred for 3G.

Mobile users say the services are expensive and not very practical. They said it is more practical to use the inter net at the cafes around the town and at the offices.

Bhutan telecom says it could not carry out a proper survey due to lack of manpower before the service launched. They said there was no bench mark or reference to fix the tariff. Bhutan telecom has received feed back from the customers about the high tariff.

Speaking to BBS, the Manager, customers care unit, Deo Kumar Biswa, said they have spent Nu. 3 to 4 Million for establishing the services. He said Bhutan telecom would like to make it available and affordable.

The 3G package service cost Nu. 400 and the GPRS is charged as per the usage.

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