Bandar Seri Begawan - Bruneian netizens and e- businesses may soon say goodbye to Internet connection that spoils their daily YouTube fix or, more importantly, online transactions.

The submarine cable network, dubbed the Asia-America Gateway, is scheduled to come into full effect in two months following a six-month delay caused by severe weather conditions that held back deep-burial operations in Hong Kong.

QQeStore managing director Nicky Wong said the project brings good news to online businesses based in Brunei, particularly those involved with shipping and logistics.

"If the current bandwidth capacity is improved, it will definitely be very beneficial to businesses, especially the ones like ours," he said in an interview. "It will definitely help with internal operations like tracking down orders and keeping track of shipments."

QQeStore is Brunei's largest online retailer offering electronics goods, ranging from handheld gadgets to home appliances.

"The higher the bandwidth, the higher the traffic volume it can handle. I presume this is useful especially if a company has clients from all over the world accessing its services or products through the Net," said a budding e-business entrepreneur who spoke to The Brunei Times on condition of anonymity.

Utilising the latest Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM) technology, the new system will be able to provide connections of up to 1.92 terabits per second. Such high-speed connections are imperative today where there is a burgeoning need for faster and more reliable Internet, video, data and other multimedia services, said an IT insider who declined to be named as he was not author ised to talk to the media.

"Compared to the first dotcom boom in 1999, there is now a different approach for new cable builds. Back then the use of broadband fixed or wireless technologies was very limited in both aspects of supply and demand. This time, the end-user demand is real.

"Now that we have the likes of BitTorrent, YouTube, Facebook, and all the other bandwidth-hungry video and audio applications, the demand for high bandwidth capabilities is definitely there," he said.

The Brunei government in partnership with DST Group and TelBru is contributing US$40 million ($60 million) to a multi-national consortium of 17 American and Southeast Asian telecommunication companies involved in the operation of the submarine cable network.

Spanning 20,000kms, the cable system will connect Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Brunei, Vietnam, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Guam, Hawaii and the US West Coast. It will also provide "seamless interconnection" with Europe, Australia, Africa and other parts of Asia. - With an agency report-- Courtesy of The Brunei Times

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