TELECOMS Focusing on IT and investment
Blueprint for a hi-tech economy

In line with other Asean states, Brunei has identified the information technology as a key component in driving economic growth and maintaining competitiveness. The development of IT underpins much of the modernisation drive in the sultanate, where the government aims to mirror the success that places like Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong have achieved in attracting investment from around the world.
The government’s blueprint, ‘IT 2000 and Beyond’, outlines many of its objectives, which include upgrading the technology and telecoms infrastructure and raising the level of internet use. More than 90 per cent of households have telephones, which is a springboard for further development.

Pehin Zakaria Sulaiman, minister of communications, says Brunei has a strategic location in the heart of Asean

The government has set up the Brunei Information Technology (BIT) Council whose main function is to advise on how best to adapt to the new era of globalisation and how to position Brunei in the information age.
Communications minister Pehin Dato Zakaria Sulaiman recently outlined the government’s key strategies, which include a drive towards a paperless or information society, and the development of e-government and e-commerce.
He says Brunei can act as a cyber hub for the region, perhaps serving as a data centre for global organisations. IBM recently helped to set up the world’s most comprehensive Islamic Digital Library with local firm Syabas Technologies, which provides evidence of further potential.

“Brunei has a strategic location in the heart of Asean,” says the minister. “We are well connected internationally via submarine cables and satellite links and there is a very stable government. We feel we have the right environment for IT.”
Internet subscribers have doubled over the past year to nearly 30,000, almost 10 per cent of the population, though still only a fraction of the potential market. Meanwhile, the number of cyber cafes springing up in the Gadong area is testimony to the web’s increasing popularity. The wave of interest has even sparked a price war between cyber cafe owners.
There are just two internet service providers, BruNet, run by Jabatan Telekom Brunei (JTB) – shortly to be privatised and handed the second mobiles licence – and existing mobiles operator, DST, though three more are about to be licensed.

Pengiran Mohamed Zin, group managing director at DST, says returns on its internet and mobiles business are limited due to the small population. It has invested more than $68 million in upgrading its technology and services and is looking for a partner in broadband communications.
“There will be some room for growth, but a lot will have to come from added-value services. We are always looking at new systems,” he says.
This includes moving onto the international stage and in the near future providing services to neighbouring areas such as Sabah and Sarawak, alongside Malaysian companies.