May 31: The number of landline phones in the country is falling. Today, B-Mobile has 180,000 subscribers against 30,000 landline phone subscribers.

In 2003, when B Mobile was launched, there were about 23,000 land line phones.

By 2006 the number of line phones increased to 32,000. But since then, with the expansion of the B Mobile network coverage, Bhutan Telecom saw a gradual decline in the land line subscribers. The number of line phones decreased to 30,000 today.

On the other hand, the number of B Mobile subscribers has been increasing steadily. Today there are about 180,000 B Mobile subscribers.

In the capital Thimphu alone, the number of line phones went down by 1,000 over the years. In 2003, there were 11,000 line phones in the capital. Now there are only 10,000.

Telecom officials said this is a cause for concern. To retain the line phone subscribers, Bhutan Telecom has introduced several incentives. For instance, Bhutan Telecom does not disconnect the phones if subscribers fail to pay the bill on time as they used to in the past.