Today, although people in rural areas have access to television, lack of access to KU Band Satellite Dish where the services of BBS TV can be availed is one of the major issues in some of the rural places of the country. The concern was shared by Khar-Yurung’s Member of Parliament Tshering Choden during the question hour session of the National Assembly today.
In response, the Information and Communications Minister said, of about 10,000 rural households who have television, almost 7,000 of them now have access to BBS signal. Lyonpo said the ministry is working with the Department of Local Governance and Bhutan InfoCom and Media Authority to make the signal available for the remaining 3,000 plus households soon.
“We have identified five to six private individuals to import and supply KU Band dish to the people in remote places. In the last 6-7 months, we have imported almost 7,000 KU Band dish and helped the rural people to get access to BBS signal. Due to COVID-19 we couldn’t continue. However, we are working to make the signal available for the remaining households,” said Information and Communications Minister Karma Donnen Wangdi.
BBS TV signal is available on South Asia Satellite GSAT-9 as a free to air channel. The GSAT-9 provides various communication applications in Ku-band with coverage over South Asian countries.
Pema Seldon Tshering
