Executive summary
This report looks at the telecommunications market in Brunei Darussalam. A small wealthy nation in South East Asia, Brunei made early moves to ensure that it was delivering up to date telecommunications services to its population. The target of 100% digitalisation was achieved in 1995. Telecommunications infrastructure and services throughout Brunei are of a generally high standard and the country ranks well in Asia in terms of both telecom service penetration and infrastructure facilities. Brunei’s mobile penetration, which stood at a reasonably healthy 32% by end-2001, has continued to grow strongly and coming into 2009 it reached 100%.
Despite enjoying one of the highest standards of living in Asia, Brunei’s economic growth has not matched its population growth. As a consequence, GDP growth has been slower than the regional and global averages. GDP growth declined from 4.5% in 2006 to a little over 0.5% in 2007. By early 2009 the global economic crisis had had limited impact on Brunei, mainly because the country was not heavily exposed to the global capital markets. The country’s banks were also well placed to manage any period of economic difficulty. Further stability had been provided by the government’s October 2008 guarantee of all Brunei dollar and foreign currency deposits until the end of 2010.
It is not surprising that the citizens of Brunei are strong consumers of telecom services, given the level of encouragement from the government. Despite this, if the country is to continue to maintain the pace required to be globally competitive, it must further restructure and generally liberalise the local telecom industry. Brunei’s telecom regulator, the Authority for Info-communications Technology Industry (AiTi), was established and in January 2003.
The local market continues to be dominated by Jabatan Telekom Brunei, the incumbent telco that remains a division within the Ministry of Communications (MoC). In a significant move, the Department of Economic Planning and Development announced in March 2006 that the corporatisation of JTB had been approved. A step in the right direction; however, much remains to be done in the area of sector reform.
Brunei – key telecom parameters – 2008 - 2009
| Category | 2008 | 2009 (e) |
|---|
| Fixed-line services: |
| Total number of subscribers1 | 73,000 | 70,000 |
| Annual change | -5% | -4% |
| Fixed-line penetration (population) | 19% | 18% |
| Internet: |
| Total number of subscribers1 | 18,500 | 19,500 |
| Annual change | 5% | 5% |
| Internet subscriber penetration (population) | 5% | 5% |
| Internet subscriber penetration (household) | 24% | 28% |
| Mobile services: |
| Total number of subscribers | 402,900 | 450,000 |
| Annual change | 14% | 11% |
| Mobile penetration (population) | 101% | 110% |
(Source: BuddeComm)
Note: 1Estimates for both 2008 and 2009.
Key highlights:
- Brunei’s booming mobile market reached a penetration of 100% in early 2009;
- Around 65% of Brunei’s Internet subscribers have high-speed broadband access;
- Fixed-line penetration in Brunei, having reached a healthy 26% by 2001, has been in decline since then and had slipped to around 18% by 2009;
- Reports in early 2009 suggested that Brunei had managed to limit the damage the global financial crisis might otherwise have caused to the local economy.
This report provides a comprehensive overview of the trends and developments in telecommunications and digital media markets in Brunei Darussalam. Subjects covered include:
- Key Statistics;
- Market and Industry Overviews;
- Regulatory Environment;
- Major Players (fixed and mobile);
- Infrastructure;
- Mobile Voice and Data Markets;
- Internet services including broadband;
- Digital Media.