Internet charges in Bhutan are higher compared to other countries. And with the government’s flagship programme to digitalize services in every office, it might further increase the internet cost.
An official from the Ministry of Information and Communications said while the charge for data is comparable but leased line charges in the country are a bit higher than other countries.
At present, Bhutan Telecom charge for a leased line is Nu 4,500 per Mbps and TashiCell charges Nu 4,500 ngultrum for Standard and Nu 8,500 per Mbps for premium.
The ministry said the higher charge is due to higher international connection charges.
With many services going online through G2C, the ministry targets to bring down the internet cost to Nu 1,500 ngultrum per Mbps by the end of this five-year plan.
Prime Minister Dr Lotay Tshering informed the media that the government is discussing to implement the flagship programme to digitalize services.
“We will attempt to digitalize everything but we all know it will not happen, that is not possible. But wherever it is relevant, wherever it is possible, wherever affordable, we will do. In that way, internet cost will also come down. Indirectly paying little higher but if that adds to the efficiency of a system, we are actually indirectly covering the cost.”
The prime minister also said the digitalization will help in keeping track of every Bhutanese using the services online. However, in the initial phase it is expected to be implemented for bill and tax payment system and in hospitals for patient record keeping.
“It will come with a cost but at the end of the day, a society, a country at large will benefit from this package. But as of now, we will look into the cost of the internet. We will make sure that it is affordable and at the same time, we cannot just lower the cost and not reap benefits from the package,” Prime Minister added.
Today, Bhutan Telecom, TashiCell, NANO and DRUKCOM are the registered internet service providers in the country.
