Brunei Darussalam 2020: Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband Markets - 5G Services Anticipated in 2021 - ResearchAndMarkets.com

DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The "Brunei Darussalam - Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband - Statistics and Analyses" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

During the last five years the number of mobile subscribers has increased steadily, though growth has slowed in response to higher penetration. Growth during the next few years will be supported by lower pricing for end-users expected to result from the UNN, as well as the launch of 5G services in 2021. These developments will also boost the mobile broadband sector.

Key Developments

• UNN created to provide a national telecom infrastructure;
• All three telcos granted global licenses.
• 5G services anticipated in 2021;
• TelBru rebrands as Imagine, launches mobile services;
• Number Portability services are launched;
• Brunei gains access to telecom services via the Kacific-1 satellite;
• Report update includes the regulator's market data for 2019, Telecom Maturity Index charts and analyses, recent market developments.

Market Insights

It is not surprising that the citizens of Brunei are strong consumers of telecom services, given the level of encouragement coming from the government and the high level of GDP per capita. Despite the overall positive situation, if the country is 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 in 2003. Although seen as a positive step, the creation of a new regulator has not really accelerated telecom reform to any extent.

The local market has continued to be dominated first by JTB and then by Telekom Brunei (TelBru), JTB's corporatised successor; although there are plans to privatise the incumbent telco, it remains for the time being under the wing of the government. It was a significant step in 2006, when the Department of Economic Planning and Development announced the corporatisation of JTB. However, much more remains to be done in the area of sector reform.

For some time the country's telecom regulator, the AITI, had been expressing concern about the performance of mobile operator B-Mobile. The smaller of the two mobile operators, B-Mobile had managed to maintain a subscriber base of close to 20% of the country's total mobile market. The operator had been experiencing serious network performance problems and was also rumoured to be struggling financially.

In a surprise move, parent Telekom Brunei submitted a petition to Brunei's Supreme Court in 2013 seeking to wind up its subsidiary B-Mobile. The mobile operator was continuing to function into 2014, but there remained major issues to be addressed. B-Mobile was acquired by investment company Darussalam Assets in July 2014. The operator was re-branded Progresif Cellular.

While Brunei's economy is not heavily exposed to the global capital markets, the 2008/2009 global financial crisis did impact on Brunei. Although the country's banks were also well placed to manage any period of economic difficulty, the country was definitely not isolated from what was happening globally.

The fall in oil prices triggered by the global economic crisis and subsequent decline in energy production saw Brunei's GDP contract by almost 2% in 2008 and again in 2009. The economy recovered sufficiently for GDP growth to be positive again by 2010, returning an annual growth rate of nearly 3% and repeating this in 2011. Growth has since been somewhat weak and/or negative. The IMF had forecast annual growth of -2% for Brunei in 2016.

Companies Mentioned

• Imagine (Telekom Brunei/TelBru)
• DSTCom
• B-Mobile
• Progresif (Progresif Cellular)
• Darussalam Assets

Key Topics Covered

1 Key statistics

2 Regional Market Comparison

3 Country overview

4 Telecommunications market

4.1 Market analysis

5 Regulatory environment

5.1 Regulatory authority

5.2 Telecom Sector Liberalisation

5.3 Privatisation

5.4 Regulatory developments

6 Mobile market

6.1 Mobile statistics

6.2 Mobile broadband statistics

7 Fixed-line broadband market

7.1 Broadband statistics

7.2 National Broadband Blueprint

7.3 Brunei International Gateway (BIG)

7.4 High Speed Broadband (HSBB)

7.5 Wi-Fi

8 Fixed network operators

8.1 Imagine (Telekom Brunei/TelBru)

8.2 DST Group

8.3 Progressif (Progresif Cellular/B-Mobile)

9 Telecommunications infrastructure

9.1 National telecom network

9.2 International Infrastructure

9.3 Data centres

9.4 Smart infrastructure

10 Digital Economy

10.1 e-Services

11 Appendix Historic data

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/q2qns4