People in remote villages who rely on Direct-to-Home, or DTH, services to watch BBS Television are facing difficulties accessing BBS News and other programmes. A major technical breakdown last month, followed by changes in frequency settings, has left many households without BBS signal. In Trashigang, residents say they missed major broadcasts, including the recent Global Peace Prayer Festival.
People in remote villages rely on Direct-to-Home services to watch BBS television because cable connections are not available in their areas. Villagers say they often have to adjust the direction of their dishes and reset frequencies to receive the signal.
But a major technical breakdown last month, along with changes in the settings, left many households, especially the elderly and illiterate, without BBS service.
Many residents say they are still without BBS service because they cannot make the required changes on their DTH. They worry they might also miss the live broadcast of the upcoming National Day celebrations if the issue is not resolved soon.
Sonam Zangmo from Phongmey Gewog said, “I was eagerly waiting to watch the Global Peace Prayer Festival on BBS, since we cannot travel to Thimphu. But there was no service, so we missed the programme. Even my neighbours were unhappy because they also couldn’t watch it.”
Tshering Dorji, Baydingphu-MerdhaTshogpa from Kangpar Gewog said, “Sometimes the satellite breaks down, and even when the service comes back, the frequency changes. We don’t have skilled people in our village to retune the settings, so we are left without BBS. Many people missed the programme last time and were not happy.”
Sangay Lhamo from Phongmey Gewog said, “I felt very sad because I couldn’t watch the live BBS programme due to the signal issue. I always rely on BBS for information. This time I couldn’t even see Rinpoches during the Global Peace Prayer telecast.”
During the Meet the Press session, industry, commerce and employment minister Namgyal Dorji clarified that a major technical breakdown disrupted BBS services from 15th to 28th October, mainly affecting DTH users.
“The GovTech Agency has immediately came up with an alternative temporary solution to provide BBS services using the Indian Space Research Organization’s satellite, and by 28th October, they were able provided BBS Channel 2 service.”
He said the GovTech Agency is identifying both technical and manpower challenges to prevent similar disruptions in future.
Meanwhile, BBS’s technical team says it has been assisting viewers through phone and video calls and urges anyone needing similar help to contact them.
Sonam Darjay, Trashigang
