IN A joint statement released by Minister at the Prime Minister’s Office and Minister of Finance and Economy II Dato Seri Setia Dr Awang Haji Mohd Amin Liew bin Abdullah, and Minister of Transport and Infocommunications Dato Seri Setia Awang Abdul Mutalib bin Pehin Orang Kaya Seri Setia Dato Paduka Haji Mohd Yusof, it was announced that a major transformation has been initiated in the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector to accelerate the nation’s digital agenda.

Under this initiative, the network infrastructure of all existing telecommunication operators, Telekom Brunei Berhad (TelBru), Datastream Technology Sdn Bhd (DST), Progresif Cellular Sdn Bhd (Progresif) and Brunei International Gateway Sdn Bhd (BIG) will be combined under a newly formed wholesale network operator. This new network operator has been incorporated and is called Unified National Networks Sdn Bhd (UNN). It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Darussalam Assets Sdn Bhd. UNN is working in partnership with Deutsche Telekom Group to support this programme.

All existing companies will focus on retail operations, providing competitive fixed and mobile services to customers and will have equal access to the network infrastructure provided by UNN. Over time, consumers can expect substantial improvements in the wider availability and quality of key services at more affordable prices, supported by a state-of-the-art and fully secured integrated network. In the immediate term, there will not be any change in prices or degradation of network services.

The development of the ICT sector is critical to creating an ecosystem which supports Brunei’s long term digital transformation and the aims of Brunei Vision 2035. The establishment of UNN is a major milestone along the ICT transformation journey as Brunei progresses towards a more connected and digitally integrated future.

The ministers emphasised the importance for the country to create a state-of-the-art, fixed mobile convergent network, and for UNN to provide training and assistance to ensure full Bruneianisation and continue building on the foundations for economic diversification and creation of gainful employment.