TALLINN — In a bizarre twist of fate, local man Juri Reimann received a phone call from e-Residency support yesterday. Instead of getting his own questions answered, Juri ended up providing IT assistance to the support team.
”I was just sitting on my couch, enjoying a piece of leib and a cup of kohv, when my phone rang,” Juri recounted. “They asked me how to connect to the Wi-Fi! I thought it was a prank at first.”
e-Residency, which allows non-residents to start a business in Estonia, has gained a reputation for its cutting-edge digital services — until yesterday. “We’ve been having some connectivity issues, and we thought, who better to call than our best e-resident?” said a support staff member, who asked to remain anonymous.
After explaining how to open the Wi-Fi settings and select a network, Juri was shocked to hear the staff member admit they were connected via personal hotspot. “How do you not know this?” Juri asked incredulously. “We’re supposed to be the digitally advanced nation of the world!”
In the aftermath of the call, Juri is now considering applying for a job at e-Residency. “Honestly, at this point, I feel overqualified. I’ve connected three devices by myself!” he declared, pausing briefly to finish his coffee.
As the support team remains offline, the country holds its breath hoping this is merely a minor setback for the e-Residency program. Juri plans to send them a how-to video later this week.
At press time, several more residents have reported unexpected calls from support teams across various sectors, including one from the National Museum asking how to use Google.