Bhutan

Overview

Bhutan (འབྲུག་ཡུལ་), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked country in South Asia. Located in the Eastern Himalayas, it is bordered by Tibet Autonomous Region in the north, India in the south, the Sikkim state of India and the Chumbi Valley of Tibet in the west, and Arunachal Pradesh state of India in the east.

Population coverage by 2G mobile is extensive and by 2012, 93% of households had a mobile phone, with a slight difference in coverage between urban (97%) and rural (91%) areas. Mobile broadband has become popular since the introduction of 3G by Bhutan Telecom (B-Mobile) in 2008 and by TashiCell in 2013. Growth in mobile broadband coverage has been aided by the deployment of services over 700 MHz and 850 MHz lower spectrum bands. B-Mobile launched 4G LTE in 2013, with TashiCell following in 2016. According to latest ITU data (June 2017) 3G mobile coverage reaches 85% of the population, and 4G LTE accessible in all 20 districts and by 53% of Bhutanese.

Bhutan is a member of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) and as such follows radio frequency harmonisation principles according to ITU-R Region-3. The regulatory body governing communications policy is the Ministry of Information and Communications (MoIC), and the Bhutan InfoComm and Media Authority (BICMA) is charged with regulating the country's radio frequency spectrum activities such as planning, allocations, and licencing.