BICMA likely to approve BT data cuts in coming week

The media regulator, Bhutan InfoComm and Media Authority (BICMA), has asked Bhutan Telecom (BT) for additional information for its proposed data rate cuts. This means a final decision is only likely in the coming week.

The BT proposal, as reported earlier, is different rate cuts for different packages, but the latest update and correction is that it proposes higher cuts for lower packages and lower cuts for higher packages.

This simply means that the lower your package the higher data BT proposes to give you. Some popular BT data packages are Nu 49, Nu 99, Nu 199, Nu 299 and Nu 499 which are used most by the people. The idea is to give a higher discount of under 50% to this group, which means a higher data of under 50% for this group.

The higher data packages of Nu 699, Nu 799, Nu 999 will get a much more moderate discount which may even be half of what the lower packages get.

The logic is that those who take a higher data package, be it pre-paid or post-paid, already get a higher natural discount with the per unit cost being lower for those with higher packages.

For example, a Nu 49 recharge gives a 660 MB data, which is the highest per unit cost with Nu 1 giving 13.46 MB data. When you get a Nu 999 recharge you get 37,570 MB which means Nu 1 now gives you 37.60 MB data which is almost three times more.

For BT, the logic would be that the higher packages are already highly discounted and so it does not make sense to give a big discount there.

Moreover, the majority of users used between Nu 49 and Nu 499 and this is also where most of the complaints come due to data finishing faster due to higher per unit costs.

The DHI and BT proposal is not just for pre-paid data, but there are also cuts in post paid data and a cut has also been proposed for lease line rates to compete with Starlink and Tashi Cell.

The current postpaid schemes start from Nu 199 and go to Nu 3,999 per month. The current lease line rate is Nu 550 per Mbps but one needs a minimum of two Mbps to get a line. There will be a major change in this rate.

Once BICMA gives the approval, which is likely next week, then it will be sent to the GovTech Agency to inform the government.

The data cut by BT will also come as a major challenge for TashiCell which will have to respond in a similar manner if it wants to retain its customer base.