Brunei – Telecom

Telephone service throughout Brunei is excellent. It is in the midst of a major fiber-to-home improvement project which will increase bandwidth access. International service is good to Europe, United States, and East Asia. In 2016, Telephone main lines in use is 74,213 and Mobile phones in use is 463,000. Digital submarine cable links to Malaysia, Singapore, and the Philippines.

Brunei has 2 Internet service providers namely Telbru & Go!Broadband of DSTCom.

DST Com is a telecommunication company that provides several communication services like GSM (900 MHz), GPRS, EDGE, UMTS (2100 MHz), HSDPA, HSPA, HSPA+, LTE (1800 MHz). There are 0.32 million subscribers. The company share is owned by DST group.

Progresif Cellular a telecommunication company that provides several communication services like UMTS (2100 MHz), HSDPA, HSPA, HSPA+. There are 0.08 million subscribers. The company share is owned by Darussalam Assets Sdn Bhd.

Brunei's internet service is monopolized by Telekom Brunei. ADSL speeds were ranging from 512 kbit/s to the maximum speed of 1 Mbit/s through ADSL2+ broadband. 1 Mbit/s was introduced in 2006 and priced at BND$128 per month (Equivalent to Singapore currency). It is known that the Brunei's broadband ranging from 512 kbit/s to 1 Mbit/s is one of the most expensive in the world. The limited market in Brunei means that new developments in the telecommunications sector is stagnant. Currently only about 110,000 users out of a population of 380,000 have any connection to the Internet.

Brunei Mobile Network Frequencies: Brunei currently uses  1 GSM 900 Band, 2 UMTS B1 (2100) Bands, and 1 LTE Band B3 (1800+) frequencies. When travelling, mobile phones used in Brunei must support the GSM frequency.

Currently as of 2012, Telekom Brunei is deploying its FTTH network capable of 100Mbit/s through a contract awarded to Huawei. It aims to provide FTTH coverage to around 85% of the population by 2017.

In 2016 Telbru drastically reduced the price and increased the speeds of its broadband plans. Due to the fact that a significant number of people were now connected via ftth and not the old copper cables.

In 2016 TelBru launched its Nationwide WiFi service as part of a long term strategy to expand its reach into the wireless segment.

Key developments:

a.       TelBru launched its Nationwide WiFi service.

b.      The penetration of internet users has increased moderately over the past five years.

c.       Mobile broadband has grown strongly and is now driving growth in the market.

d.      Fixed line penetration has seen a strong downhill slide over the past five years.

e.      Slow growth in the mobile market is predicted over the medium term.