Finally, 3G is Available Beyond Thimphu

Bhutan Telecom has turned on the 3G switch in P/Ling. This is an important event. Fast mobile broadband is an effective way of closing the rural broadband gap. With 3G, people will have access to faster Internet wherever they are. While P/Ling is still an urban centre, this serves as a good proof of concept. Hopefully, 3G will eventually reach all B-Mobile customers.

While the theoretical maximum 3G download speed is 3.6Mbps (almost 4 million bits per second), which makes it possible to download a 3-minute song in about 10 seconds, it remains to be seen what the actual speed will be. Many factors affect the speed, including network congestion. For the time being, the bottleneck is Bhutan's international links. Once these are upgraded, we can expect higher download and upload speeds to international websites (Google, Facebook, BBC, etc).

How to test your speed? Check one of the following websites:

• Go to speakeasy.net/speedtest, then select one of the cities (e.g., New York)
• Go to  http://www.speedtest.net/, then click on the "BEGIN TEST" button