Rural communities in Bhutan join the information society

ITU, in partnership with national carrier Bhutan Telecom Ltd (BTL), embarked on connectivity Dagana VoIP Project to expand the VoIP service to ten isolated communities in the remote province of Dagana, Bhutan. ITU contributed USD 413 500 from its TELECOM Surplus Programme to provide Bhutan with the equipment for the VoIP network, as well as with the services of experts in designing intelligent networks (IN) and billing systems. Since June 2006, villagers, entrepreneurs, and schools in rural Bhutan are now subscribed to VoIP services and local government staff are using telephone and fax to communicate regularly with the central government in the capital city of Thimphu. Some subscribers also run public calling offices (PCO) at shop premises, where anyone can make local, domestic and international long-distance telephone calls according to a BTL-prescribed tariff. People no longer have to walk miles to make a telephone call as the "last mile" connectivity is now a reality in homes and schools in rural Bhutan. Source: ITU.

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