Telecommunications in Brunei

Telecommunications

Telephone

Telephone service throughout the country is excellent; international service is good to Southeast Asia, Middle East, Western Europe, and the US[1]

  • Main lines in use: 82,588 (2020)[1]
  • Mobile phones: 565,949 (2020)[1]

Landing points for the SEA-ME-WE-3, SJC, AAG, Lubuan-Brunei Submarine Cable via optical telecommunications submarine cables that provides links to Asia, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, Africa, Australia, and the US; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (1 Indian Ocean and 1 Pacific Ocean) (2019)[1]

IDD Country Code: +673

Internet

Broadband

Brunei's Internet service was 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 was priced at BND$128 per month (Equivalent to Singapore currency). It was well 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.

In 2002, Telekom Brunei was incorporated become Telekom Brunei Berhad (TelBru). In 2008, the internet were improved with dramatically with speeds ranging from 1Mbit/s to maximum speed of 5Mbit/s. Price starting from B$65 to B$105 per month respectively.

BandwidthPlanCharges (BND)
1Mbit/sValue Surf$39/month
2Mbit/sLite Surf$59/month
3.5Mbit/sSuper Surf$79/month
5Mbit/sPremium Surf$105/month

In 2012, Telekom Brunei started deploying its FTTH network capable of 100Mbit/s through a contract awarded to Huawei.[2][3] They aimed to provide FTTH coverage to around 85% of the population by 2017.[3]

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 via the old copper cables.[4]

On 1 March 2018 Telbru rolled out their new 'high speed' broadband plans[4] They also split the plans which have unlimited quota into 'unlimited plans'[4]

In 2017 Forbes reported that Brunei had the 4th most expensive broadband service in the world[5][6][7]

Broadband Plans Effective 1 March 2018[4][8]
Type of plan Bandwidth Up To Monthly Charge Quota
Quota Based 10 Mbit/s $25 50GB
Quota Based 10 Mbit/s $39 100GB
Quota Based 15 Mbit/s $59 200GB
Quota Based 20 Mbit/s $75 250GB
Quota Based 20 Mbit/s $99 350GB
High Speed Quota Based 30 Mbit/s $75 50GB
High Speed Quota Based 45 Mbit/s $135 100GB
High Speed Quota Based 60 Mbit/s $240 200GB
High Speed Quota Based 100 Mbit/s $290 250GB
High Speed Quota Based 300 Mbit/s $350 350GB
Unlimited 30 Mbit/s $199 N/A
Unlimited 45 Mbit/s $259 N/A
Unlimited 60 Mbit/s $339 N/A
Unlimited 100 Mbit/s $459 N/A
Unlimited 300 Mbit/s $999 N/A

On 4 September 2019, The UNN took over all of the telecommunications infrastructure in Brunei.[9][10][11] By doing so they aimed to provide equal infrastructure to all the isps in the country. This brought an end to a long held monopoly by Imagine Sdn Bhd (Formerly Known as Telbru) over the home broadband market with the introduction of Datastream Digital's 'Infinity' home broadband plans on 24 January 2020.[12][13][14]

Television
  • Terrestrial TV Stations (Free to air)

In some areas residents may enjoy some of the Malaysian TV channels

  1. RTB Perdana (Formerly known as RTB 1 and RTB 5) - An 18-hour national flagship channel of Radio Television Brunei aired news and information programs, with local and sinetron Indonesia series in 1080p HDTV.[15]
  2. RTB Aneka (Formerly known as RTB 2 and RTB 3 HD) - A 14-hour second channel of Radio Television Brunei airs entertainment programmes in 1080p HDTV.[16]
  3. RTB Sukmaindera (Formerly known as RTB 4) - A 24-hour international satellite television channel airing all of RTB programs both locally and internationally in 1080p HDTV.[17]
  • Pay TV (Satellite TV) 1 - Kristal Astro

Radio

All radio stations in the country use FM. 5 radio stations are broadcast by the state controlled Radio Television Brunei. The British Forces Broadcast Service (BFBS) broadcasts 2 other stations in the country. Reception from some Malaysia stations can be received.[1]

References
  1. "The World Factbook – Central Intelligence Agency". www.cia.gov. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
  2. "Brunei FTTH network built by Huawei". www.commsupdate.com. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
  3. "The recent launch of 4G services and a new fibre-to-the-home initiative are set to provide better access to higher-speed internet". Oxford Business Group. 30 November 2014. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
  4. "TelBru introduces new broadband plans – Borneo Bulletin Online". Borneo Bulletin Online. 1 March 2018. Retrieved 31 March 2018.
  5. "(Forbes) Brunei is the 4th most expensive Broadband service in the world • r/Brunei". reddit. Retrieved 31 March 2018.
  6. McCarthy, Niall. "The Most And Least Expensive Countries For Broadband [Infographic]". Forbes. Retrieved 31 March 2018.
  7. McCarthy, Niall. "The Most And Least Expensive Countries For Broadband [Infographic]". Forbes. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
  8. (TelBru), Telekom Brunei Berhad. "Telekom Brunei Berhad (TelBru)". www.telbru.com.bn. Retrieved 31 March 2018.
  9. "UNN takes over all telco infrastructure in Brunei". The Scoop. 3 September 2019. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
  10. "UNN now operates Brunei's telecommunication networks – The Bruneian". Retrieved 14 June 2020.
  11. "UNN takes over all telco infrastructure in Brunei : Darussalam Assets". www.da.com.bn. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
  12. "r/Brunei - UNN Related News". reddit. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
  13. "DST on Instagram: "Save the date. Limitless connectivity. Everywhere. #dstbn #limitlessconnectivity #everywhere"". Instagram. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
  14. "twitter.com/thewheat/status/1220343782010343424". Twitter. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
  15. "Radio Television Brunei - RTB Perdana". www.rtb.gov.bn. Retrieved 25 September 2018.
  16. "Radio Television Brunei - RTB Aneka". www.rtb.gov.bn. Retrieved 25 September 2018.
  17. "Radio Television Brunei - RTB Sukmaindera". www.rtb.gov.bn. Retrieved 25 September 2018.

 This article incorporates public domain material from the CIA World Factbook website https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/.

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