Brunei Set For Nationwide Wi-Fi access

The Authority for Info-Communications Technology Industry of Brunei Darussalam, AiTi, as the statutory body which licenses, regulates and develops Brunei Darussalam's info-communications technology (ICT) industry and manages the national frequency spectrum, is taking steps to uplift Brunei's ICT industry to the next level by awarding Broadband Wireless Access licenses to successful bidders.

AiTi held a closed-door clarification meeting for tender of licenses to operate Broadband Wireless Access in Brunei Darussalam for interested bidders to answer their queries and explain the finer points of AiTi's licensing process yesterday, at the Sheraton Utama Hotel in the capital.

During a media interview with the Chief Executive of AiTi, Pg Hj Md Zain bin Pg Hj Abd Razak, he said, "Broadband Wireless Access, or BWA, is a new category of a group of wireless technologies capable of providing high-speed wireless Internet access potentially to the whole of Brunei Darussalam.

“In laymen terms, it is a kind of Wi-Fi but having a longer-distance coverage in the order of a few kilometers from a base station. It means that with this technology, Internet access can be offered outside the building. Among others, Wi-Max technology comes under the category of BWA," he said.

Pg Hj Md Zain revealed that there had been a number of applications from interested parties to provide the service. He said AiTi has decided to have a transparent and fair process in awarding the licenses due to the limited frequency spectrum available and considering Brunei's limited market size.

The Chief Executive also stated that based on statistics, 51 per cent of Brunei's population have access to Internet through the current services provided, namely— dial-up, leased lines, A DSL and 3G connections.

"However, when we look at broadband users (high-speed connection), the figure is still very low at three per cent. There is obviously plenty of room and this is the area we are working on."

BWA technology has the capability of delivering high-speed or broadband wireless Internet connection on the move as an alternative to the existing fixed ADSL technology, which has several limitations.

The licensing exercise is also part of AiTi 's efforts to introduce a more competitive environment by gradually liberalizing the market with the hope that it would create new and wider range of services with competitive pricing and, hence, more choices to the consumers. He explained that the new technology would encourage increased usage of Internet connection, which is comparable to technologically advanced countries such as Singapore, South Korea, Japan and Hong Kong.

"This licensing exercise is part of our plan to build a national broadband infrastructure using a mixture of both wired and wireless technologies. The ultimate objective is to help create 'a sophisticated society', which can use ICT and access information anywhere and anytime," he added