Brunei To Enter New Digital Era With Historic 3G Launch
By M KAnwar

Bandar Seri Begawan - In what is considered a new chapter in the era of digital communications in Brunei, the first 3G network in the country will be officially launched today at The Mall.

Since the trial for the b.mobile's 3G system got under way two months ago, it has been the talk of the town.

The objective of the trial was to create awareness among Bruneians as well as to gather constructive feedback to improve the services. The trial has provided b-mobile with valuable inputs to help improve its services and iron out issues before 3G is officially launched.

B-mobile Communications Sdn Bhd is a jointventure company between Telekom Brunei Berhad and QAF Comserve that was awarded the nation's second mobile licence in February this year by the Brunei government.

The 3G system is expected to bring in a wide range of benefits such as roaming capability, video calls, wireless broadband access and high speed data communication.

The 3G network implemented by b.mobile will be based on the WCDMA technology that is widely adopted by many countries around the world including Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, China, USA and the United Kingdom.

The call rates and charges that will be effective from September 2, 2005 were announced yesterday by b.mobile. With several postpaid packages and prepaid plans, public anticipation has hit a-high.

Those interested to join the Prepaid Plan, a starter kit costing $24 will be sold. b-mobile will bear the annual licence fee of $25 for those who apply before October 1. The kit will come along with a Top-Up card worth $18.

Top-Up cards of $18 and $38 will come with 21 and 60 days validity respectively after top-up. As an additional bonus, b.mobile will provide an extra $6 value for the $18 Top-Up card meaning that customers will receive credits totaling $24 with each top-up.

The $38 Top-Up cards will come with a $12 bonus value totaling $50 worth of credit with each top-up.

Added to the Prepaid Plan is the `Family and Friends' feature. Subscribers can allocate five b.mobile or JTB numbers and special rates will apply to these numbers for services including voice calls.

Another unique feature for the prepaid service is the `Credit Transfer' that will allow customers to transfer their credit from any prepaid account to another on the b.mobile network from the convenience of their handsets.

Four postpaid packages are also offered by b.mobile for its subscribers. From the 'Lite' to the 'Max' package, each plan will offer different cost saving services.

The Lite plan at a fixed $38 per month is suitable for the occasional user. It comes with 100 minutes of free outgoing calls.

The `Mid' plan at $58 per month will offer customers up to 3,000 minutes of outgoing calls absolutely free plus the ability to send 80 free SMS per month, b.mobile to b.mobile.

The `High' plan, which costs $88 per month, will include 6,000 minutes or 100 hours of free outgoing calls. Those using this plan will also be able to send 160 free SMS to any b.mobile phone.

The 'Max' plan at $168 per month will enable its subscribers to enjoy unlimited free outgoing calls to any b.mobile phone, not forgetting 300 free SMS per month.

Incoming calls will be free of charge during the promotional period.

All these come with a variety of 3G services such as video calls, video messages and other features including mobile TV and Internet access.

Mobile vendors, meanwhile, are seeing arise in sales of 3G mobiles. The choices of 3G mobiles have increased significantly in the past two months with many latest models snapped up by customers in just a short period of time.  -- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin

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