Are mobile phones responsible for dismantling of ISD/PCOs in the country?

A few years back, when mobile phone facilities were almost absent, the towns could be seen with a lot Public Call Operators commonly known as PCOs. Almost every nook and corner around the urban centres including the grocery shops use to install PCOs. But today, if we visit Thimphu Town, the biggest urban area in Bhutan, does not seem to have a single PCO. What is the main reason for such a rapid decline in the number of such service providers? The answer is simple, thanks to B-mobile and now Tashi mobile ever making the call rates far cheaper than landline phones.

Almost every Bhutanse young or old, rich or poor, educated or not, literate or illeterat, office goer or cowherd possess varieties of cellophone depending on their income and ability to use the features. Typically, most of the farmers who are illeterate carry black and white which are bit cheap, high officials and business tycoons carry post-paid high branded ones and yougesters carry more fashionable phones such as E-Series, N-series and some even carry Iphones and apple. These youths usually are sons or daughters of rich businessmen or high officials.

With this facility, no one seems to bother about existence of any public booth. Nobody even seem to think that once there existed huge number of public booth in the country but not anymore. Even the media seems least care about the disppearance of such public services. Not a single report is seen in any form of media on the issue. May be everyone was taken too much by the existence of mobile phones including the media persons or organizations.

Where did the equipments used for public booth go? Who must have taken these equipments which cost quite huge sum? Or is it lying as an antic at their residences? The final answer would be that it will become a form of an e-waste one day. Does government think of any such consequences in the future?

There are so many questions we need to ask on the issue. Yet, there seems to be no solution, no concrete answer. The only definite answer is that it will becomes one day as a litter or e-waste.