“The number you dialed in not in service!”
The popularity of mobile phone is pushing out landlines
“The number you dialed is not in service. Please check the number and dial again!”
A male voice responds immediately when a landline, also called as fixed line, is dialed these days. The number is correct. The phone is disconnected.
This is not only in the capital. Many landlines around the country are disconnected or discontinued with mobile telephone now becoming the means of telecommunication. Many homes do not have the green book, Bhutan Telecom’s telephone directory on their shelves as almost all the member of the family carry a mobile phone each.
Has the fixed telephone waved goodbye?
Ye and no. Many residential lines are either disconnected or used only for broadband internet for which a landline is necessary. With mobile phones becoming popular more than ever, landline telephone had become obsolete many homes around the country. The mobile has killed the telephone.
However, government offices, corporations and private offices still use the landline although the means of communication is mostly done through the mobile telephone.
Bhutan Today called about 100 landline numbers for this story and only a dozen had their phone still operating. A housewife said that it was only her illiterate father who uses the phone. “He can’t recognize numbers and insists on having the land line,” she said. A corporate employee cannot remember his fixed line number although it is saved in his mobile phone. He uses the fixed line only for broadband internet. “What is the use when you have a telephone in your hemchu (pocket),” he said.
As of January 2016, the number of mobile subscribers has reached 675,747. The country’s population is estimated at 784,103 in 2016.
According to the Bhutan Telecom’s annual report, between 2003 and 2006 there were between 23,657 and 31,526 telephone subscribers. The number has gone down to about 20,829 subscribers between 2015 and 2016. The report indicates that usage of phone lines has remained constant, but this has been attributed to the usage of landline phone in government and private and other offices with the increasing numbers of broadband users.
A landline user, Dorji Penjor from Tashiyangtse said that in remote places, it is more difficult to install landline phone that is not accessible to the entire villager. “Now it easy, after installing mobile wireless towers that people can connect from anywhere,” he said.
Bhutan Telecom’s Marketing General Manager, Penjore, said that landline phones has reduced immensely but the recent trend showed that the usage have remained constant. He added that this has been attributed to the usage of landlines by government, private and corporate sectors for the official purpose and increasing broad band users all across.
Bhutan Today called several landline phones in five dzongkhags following the 2015 - 2016 telephone directories. Most of the landline phones are either out of service. But most of the landline phones are still used in government, private and corporate sectors for the official purpose.
A corporate employee said that mobile number should be personal, but even businesses and corporations advertise their mobile numbers. This, he said, is killing the landline phone.
Many said that the mobile phone is not just a phone and therefore, it would end the usage of landline except in the government and corporations.
The popularity of mobile phone is pushing out landlines
“The number you dialed is not in service. Please check the number and dial again!”
A male voice responds immediately when a landline, also called as fixed line, is dialed these days. The number is correct. The phone is disconnected.
This is not only in the capital. Many landlines around the country are disconnected or discontinued with mobile telephone now becoming the means of telecommunication. Many homes do not have the green book, Bhutan Telecom’s telephone directory on their shelves as almost all the member of the family carry a mobile phone each.
Has the fixed telephone waved goodbye?
Ye and no. Many residential lines are either disconnected or used only for broadband internet for which a landline is necessary. With mobile phones becoming popular more than ever, landline telephone had become obsolete many homes around the country. The mobile has killed the telephone.
However, government offices, corporations and private offices still use the landline although the means of communication is mostly done through the mobile telephone.
Bhutan Today called about 100 landline numbers for this story and only a dozen had their phone still operating. A housewife said that it was only her illiterate father who uses the phone. “He can’t recognize numbers and insists on having the land line,” she said. A corporate employee cannot remember his fixed line number although it is saved in his mobile phone. He uses the fixed line only for broadband internet. “What is the use when you have a telephone in your hemchu (pocket),” he said.
As of January 2016, the number of mobile subscribers has reached 675,747. The country’s population is estimated at 784,103 in 2016.
According to the Bhutan Telecom’s annual report, between 2003 and 2006 there were between 23,657 and 31,526 telephone subscribers. The number has gone down to about 20,829 subscribers between 2015 and 2016. The report indicates that usage of phone lines has remained constant, but this has been attributed to the usage of landline phone in government and private and other offices with the increasing numbers of broadband users.
A landline user, Dorji Penjor from Tashiyangtse said that in remote places, it is more difficult to install landline phone that is not accessible to the entire villager. “Now it easy, after installing mobile wireless towers that people can connect from anywhere,” he said.
Bhutan Telecom’s Marketing General Manager, Penjore, said that landline phones has reduced immensely but the recent trend showed that the usage have remained constant. He added that this has been attributed to the usage of landlines by government, private and corporate sectors for the official purpose and increasing broad band users all across.
Bhutan Today called several landline phones in five dzongkhags following the 2015 - 2016 telephone directories. Most of the landline phones are either out of service. But most of the landline phones are still used in government, private and corporate sectors for the official purpose.
A corporate employee said that mobile number should be personal, but even businesses and corporations advertise their mobile numbers. This, he said, is killing the landline phone.
Many said that the mobile phone is not just a phone and therefore, it would end the usage of landline except in the government and corporations.
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