Biography
Jichen Thinley is one of the pioneers of Bhutan’s Internet and telecommunications sector, with a career spanning more than three decades at Bhutan Telecom and its predecessor organisations. Since joining the telecommunications sector in 1989, he has contributed to some of the most important milestones in Bhutan’s connectivity journey—from developing the country’s telecommunications workforce and launching its first Internet service to building modern data centre, mobile, and Internet infrastructure.
His career has combined engineering, operations, training, project management, and strategic planning. Throughout this journey, Jichen has maintained a strong commitment to developing Bhutan’s own technical capabilities and creating institutions through which network operators can collaborate and exchange knowledge.
In recognition of his longstanding contribution to the development of the Internet in Bhutan, Jichen Thinley was honoured as one of the inaugural recipients of the Internet Enabler Award in 2026.
Contribution to the Internet
Jichen’s contribution to Bhutan’s telecommunications development began before the country was connected to the public Internet. In 1991, he was involved in establishing the Telecom Training Unit, where he worked as a course developer and trainer. At a time when Bhutan’s telecommunications infrastructure was still developing, building local technical expertise was essential to ensuring that new networks could be operated and maintained by Bhutanese engineers and technicians.
A defining milestone came in 1999 with the launch of DrukNet, Bhutan’s first Internet service.
Introduced by the Department of Telecom, now Bhutan Telecom Limited, DrukNet connected Bhutan to the global Internet and marked the beginning of public Internet connectivity in the country. The early network operated with extremely limited resources by today’s standards: Bhutan’s international Internet backbone initially provided only 256 Kbps of capacity, while users connected through dial-up and leased-line services.
Jichen was part of the team that helped establish these early Internet services and subsequently managed the operation and maintenance of Internet and GSM services. His role placed him at the centre of Bhutan’s transition from traditional telecommunications into the Internet era.
As demand for connectivity grew, Bhutan’s Internet infrastructure evolved from dial-up and early leased-line services towards broadband, fibre, mobile data, and increasingly sophisticated national and international networks. Jichen continued to contribute to this transformation through technical, operational, management, and strategic roles within Bhutan Telecom.
His work subsequently expanded into the development of critical digital infrastructure. He served as Project Manager for Bhutan’s first TIER III Design Certified Data Center in Phuentsholing, strengthening the country’s ability to host reliable digital services and infrastructure domestically.
He also managed the development of a disaster-resilient mobile network in Jakar, reflecting the particular importance of infrastructure resilience in Bhutan’s mountainous geography, where natural hazards and difficult terrain create significant challenges for telecommunications networks.
As Bhutan entered the next generation of mobile communications, Jichen served as Project Manager for Bhutan Telecom’s 5G and IMS VoLTE initiatives, contributing to another major evolution of the country’s communications infrastructure.
Across these different generations of technology—from early dial-up Internet to modern IP-based mobile networks—his work has remained closely connected to the development of reliable national connectivity.
Community Impact
Jichen’s contribution extends beyond building and operating Bhutan Telecom’s networks. He has played an important role in developing the institutions and technical communities necessary for a healthy national Internet ecosystem.
He volunteered in the establishment of the Bhutan Internet Exchange (btIX), helping create an important piece of national Internet infrastructure that enables networks in Bhutan to exchange traffic locally. Internet exchanges help improve network efficiency, reduce dependence on international connectivity for domestic traffic, and create opportunities for greater cooperation between network operators.
Jichen also contributed to the establishment of the Bhutan Network Operators Group (btNOG) and has served as its Chair. btNOG provides a platform through which Bhutanese network engineers, operators, researchers, students, and technology professionals can exchange operational knowledge, develop technical skills, and build relationships with the wider regional Internet community.
His engagement with the South Asian Network Operators Group (SANOG) further connected Bhutan’s emerging Internet community with engineers and Internet practitioners throughout South Asia. As a member of the SANOG Core Committee, he contributed to regional technical collaboration and knowledge sharing at a time when access to specialised Internet engineering expertise within smaller economies was limited.
These efforts have helped ensure that Bhutan’s Internet development is supported not only by physical infrastructure but also by the people, knowledge, relationships, and institutions required to sustain it.
Legacy and Influence
Jichen Thinley’s career spans an extraordinary period in Bhutan’s telecommunications history.
When he began his career, Bhutan had no public Internet service. Telecommunications infrastructure was limited, international connectivity was scarce, and much of the technical expertise required to build and operate modern networks had to be developed locally.
Over the following decades, he participated in Bhutan’s transition through successive generations of connectivity—from telecommunications training and early Internet services to GSM networks, broadband, Internet exchange, resilient infrastructure, data centres, and eventually 5G and IP-based mobile communications.
Perhaps the strongest thread running through his career is the emphasis on building capability alongside infrastructure. His involvement in establishing the Telecom Training Unit early in his career, followed decades later by his work supporting btIX and btNOG, reflects an understanding that sustainable Internet development requires more than equipment and connectivity. It requires skilled people, strong institutions, technical cooperation, and opportunities for the next generation to learn.
His influence can therefore be seen not only in the networks and infrastructure he helped build, but also in the technical community that has developed around them.
