AS CONSUMERS are veering towards technology,
especially on the mobile front, Swedish technology giant, Ericsson, believes
that it is no different for Brunei and it will be an important driver for the Sultanate's
economy.
One of
the world's leading providers of communication and technology services,
Ericsson held a media briefing at the Radisson Hotel yesterday to share
insights of the company's recent announcement during the Mobile World Congress
(MWC) 2012 in Barcelona.
With a
high broadband and mobile penetration rate in Brunei, Ericsson is currently
working on Long Term Evolution (LTE) or 4G trials with service providers to
further improve Bruneians mobile Internet experience.
Ericsson
last year, envisioned a "Networked Society" that can impact
individuals and businesses on a social level and is relying on three forces;
mobility, broadband and cloud, to drive this vision.
Tan Kok
Liang, vice-president (VP) of Engagement Practices of Singapore & Brunei,
Mark Thong, VP of Major Accounts and Business Development Singapore &
Brunei, and Senior Consultant Calvin Yeo, speak to the Bruneian media about the
importance of service quality to improve a consumers' overall experience with
broadband and mobile content and the future of Brunei's mobile landscape.
BT: What is Ericsson's view of Brunei at the
moment?
Yeo:
Mobile broadband is definitely driving innovation and the economy. I was on a
project in Brunei quite some time ago, where I had the privilege to take a look
into the country's Wawasan 2035 and to understand that the vision for change in
Brunei is towards a knowledge based economy under-guarded by InfoCommunication
Technology (ICT). I think mobile broadband is going to bring that change for
innovation for businesses and the economy.
BT: What do you think is different now, at a
time where we are in LTE trials and the time where 3G was being implemented in
Brunei?
Yeo:
During the time, I was involved in some projects which led to the launch of 3G
and it was a very exciting time where there was a lot of interest and
excitement, and I think the Brunei's market in terms of penetration of mobile
as a whole is sitting at a 106 per cent penetration for mobile services. So
smartphones have taken off in a big way. Although they may not be any confirmed
figures published by the regulator, our research shows that 50 per cent of new
activations are smartphones, but there maybe be even up to an 80 per cent as
discussed from our earlier conversation. Every smartphone taken up is probably
accompanied by a mobile broadband service, and the growth is very healthy here.
One interesting source we have, is that in Asia itself, Brunei has the highest
percentage of population or subscribers who are using Social Networking Service,
and this is something driven by mobile broadband.
Tan:
Our study with consulting firm Arthur D Little shows that every 10 percentage
point increase in broadband penetration, Gross Domestic Product of a country
increases by one per cent. It also shows that broadband speed was an important
factor in spurring economic development throughout society. For example,
doubling a country's broadband speed increases its GDP by 0.3 per cent, and
quadrupling speeds will yield a 0.6 per cent growth stimulus.
BT: So how soon can we expect LTE in Brunei?
Yeo: We
are doing trials with DST on LTE, and will continue to work with them and
engage them with plans and development. So it all depends on a users lifestyle,
which has changed when they started using 3G services. So now, people want
richer multimedia because of smartphones, tablet and cloud services. Cloud
plays a big part in this as well.
Thong:
The adoption of LTE is highly driven by the availability of devices and
services, but the deployment of LTE is more rapid than that of 3G. Mobile
communication used to be a privilege, but it's a basic human needs right now.
Tan: So
the jump from 2G (EDGE or GPRS) was quite revolutionary, and then we had HSPA+
which gives us 42MB (per second), and LTE will give us 100MB (per second). That
transition will be a lot smoother considering the jump from 2G to 3G.
BT: Will any of the developments from
Barcelona be introduced in Brunei?
Thong:
In Brunei, we have DST as our key mobile operator partner. Ericsson interacts
with every mobile operator in the world with our mission to deliver best
quality network. You will see enhancements of mobile quality and innovative
mobile services with our partner in Brunei. So in future, you will hear more
developments being announced. But to clarify, we work with all service
providers in Brunei to all level of cooperation. We don't only cooperate with
mobile operators, but all service providers.
GOH DE
NO
The Brunei
Times
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