ICT Profile - Brunei

Total population	340,800 (2002)
Rural population as a percentage of total population	33.4%
Key economic sectors	Oil and Gas
Literacy in the national language(s)	92.5%
Literacy in English	92.5% (the education system is bilingual with English and Malay)
Computer ownership per 100 inhabitants	10
Telephone lines per 100 inhabitants	24.7
Internet cafés/telecentres per 10,000 inhabitants	1
Internet users per 100 inhabitants	5
Cell phone subscribers per 100 inhabitants	42
Number of websites in the national language(s)	Less than 12
Number of websites in English and other language(s)	Less than 20
National bandwidth within the country	A fibre optic backbone across the country capable of delivering 133 Mbps.
National bandwidth to and from the country	Less than 70 Mbps (14 Mbps to Singapore and 45 Mbps to the USA)

ICT Developments	ICT Policy
Teledensity almost 100% Two telecom service providers Jabatan Telekom Brunei/Telecommunications Department is fixed-line provider (corporatizing to be Telekom Brunei Bhd or Bru/Tel) DST Communications Sdn Bhd (DST) is GSM provider 100% digital systems International connectivity through fibre-optic submarine cabling and satellite earth stations	Brunei Information Technology Council— chaired by Minister of Communications National IT Strategic Plan— IT, 2000 e-government, e-business and e-Brunei (e-society) strategy Development of Eco-cyber Park to be linked to Asia Pacific Information Infrastructure (APII) and Global Information Network (GIN)

WTO Issues Regulatory Frameworks

Member since 1995

Authority for Info-Communications Technology Industry Order, 2001 (AiTi)
The Telecommunications Order, 2001
The Telecommunications Successor Company Order, 2001
Brunei Info-communication vision

Key ICT Information

Jabatan Telekom Brunei (JTB), being the only ISP and a government agency, had to play the multiple roles of regulator, promoter and ISP until 1999.
DST Sdn. Bhd., which began its core operations as a mobile phone service provider, launched its ISP services, Simpurnet, in 2000.
Three new ISP licences were also awarded to private enterprises in 2001. However, they have not launched their services at the time of writing.
JTB will be fully corporatised in April 2003 and renamed TelBru. It will serve only as an ISP. Its regulatory role will be taken over by the newly established Authority of Information Technology Industry.

Access

When the first ISP, Brunet of Brunei Telecoms, started its operations in 1995, there were only 816 individual Internet subscribers (0.3 percent of the total population).
In 2002, the number of subscribers climbed to more than 15,540 (4.6 percent of the total population). An additional 8,000 accounts (2.3 percent) were subscribed through the second ISP DST Sdn. Bhd.
The rapid growth in the telecommunications sector was also reflected by the increase in direct exchange lines. The total number grew from 48,110 lines (18 percent of total population) in 1992 to 83,310 (24 percent) in 2001.
DST also enjoyed an encouraging uptake of mobile phone services, amounting to 131,246 subscribers (38 percent of total population) in 2001.
In 1993, inward mail was about 349,000 kilograms and outward mail was 78,700 kilograms.
In 2001 the post office saw a massive drop in inward mail to just 222,900 kilograms and outward mail to 37,300 kilograms.
Almost 90 percent of home users make dial-up connections via 56 Kbps modems.
An ADSL service called e-Speed was introduced to the country in 2001 with varying bandwidths from a basic 128 Kbps connection for B$98 per month to 256 Kbps for B$150 per month.
Corporate rates are almost twice the domestic rates.
A new broadband ADSL service capable of delivering up to 2 Mbps is being introduced on a trial basis to selected individuals, and it is expected to roll out commercially in early 2003.
The recently revised Brunet dial-up pricing has brought local prices closer to regional ISPs' pricing and services. Student subscriptions start at B$8 per month, while personal accounts cost B$15 monthly with 650 minutes of free usage. Family accounts include three free e-mail accounts and cost only B$45 per month with 2,215 free minutes.

e-Government