There has been a noticeable dip in the speed of both Bhutan Telecom and Tashi Cell internet ever since the lockdown started.
Managing Director of Bhutan Telecom Limited Karma Jurmi said that the internet network may be congested as a result of everyone using the internet during the lockdown.
Tashi Cell’s Managing Director Tashi Tshering also said that people are keeping connected through the internet and phone lines during the lockdown, and work from home has been made mandatory for most private and government employees to avoid the spread of coronavirus, which must have caused the network congestion.
He said that since Tashi Cell has also offered a bonus on every recharge for three days, people might be busy using the internet; otherwise, there are no severe network concerns.
Bhutan Telecom had also made a similar offer to its customers.
Sonam Dorji, 32, a Dechencholing resident, also stated that because many people are using their gadgets to speak with others, remain informed on news, and seek diversions during these uncertain times and so network connections are sluggish
While many people may be able to deal in the short term, he believes that if working from home becomes the ‘new normal,’ it will have an impact on productivity.
Kinley, 28 of Babesa said, “When the internet connection at home is bad, working from home becomes ineffective. To preserve bandwidth, I frequently have to disable video and depend just on audio and have problem downloading files for work.”