Telecommunications in Brunei

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This article covers telecommunication in Brunei.

Telecommunications[edit]

Telephone[edit]

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

Landing point for the SEA-ME-WE-3 optical telecommunications submarine cable that provides links to Asia, the Middle East, and Europe; the Asia-America Gateway submarine cable network provides new links to Asia and the US; the South-East Asia Japan Cable System linking Brunei, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, Philippines and Thailand; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (1 Indian Ocean and 1 Pacific Ocean) (2017) [1]

Internet[edit]

Broadband[edit]

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.

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.

Bandwidth Plan Charges (BND)
1Mbit/s Value Surf $39/month
2Mbit/s Lite Surf $59/month
3.5Mbit/s Super Surf $79/month
5Mbit/s Premium Surf $105/month

In 2012, Telekom Brunei started 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.[2]

Telbru new internet plans.png

On 1 March 2018 Telbru rolled out their new 'high speed' broadband plans[2] They also split the plans which have unlimited quota into 'unlimited plans'[2]

Brunei has the 4th most expensive broadband service in the world[3][4]

Broadband Plans Effective 1 March 2018[2][5]
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

Television[edit]

  • 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.[6]
  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.[7]
  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.[8]
  • Pay TV (Satellite TV) 1 - Kristal Astro

Radio[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e "The World Factbook — Central Intelligence Agency". www.cia.gov. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
  2. ^ a b c d "TelBru introduces new broadband plans – Borneo Bulletin Online". Borneo Bulletin Online. 1 March 2018. Retrieved 31 March 2018.
  3. ^ "(Forbes) Brunei is the 4th most expensive Broadband service in the world • r/Brunei". reddit. Retrieved 31 March 2018.
  4. ^ McCarthy, Niall. "The Most And Least Expensive Countries For Broadband [Infographic]". Forbes. Retrieved 31 March 2018.
  5. ^ (TelBru), Telekom Brunei Berhad. "Telekom Brunei Berhad (TelBru)". www.telbru.com.bn. Retrieved 31 March 2018.
  6. ^ "Radio Television Brunei - RTB Perdana". www.rtb.gov.bn. Retrieved 25 September 2018.
  7. ^ "Radio Television Brunei - RTB Aneka". www.rtb.gov.bn. Retrieved 25 September 2018.
  8. ^ "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/library/publications/the-world-factbook/index.html.