05 September 2024 - Bangkok, Thailand
In May 2024, UNN submitted a white paper highlighting several achievements involving the implementation of technology powered by renewable energy to connect rural communities previously cut off from the rest of the nation as well as the development of a Rural Outreach Program to promote digital and social inclusivity as part of its Corporate ESG initiatives.
The white paper also included company milestones between 2019 and 2024, where over 800 legacy base stations were repurposed and modernized, improving nationwide mobile coverage from 80% to 96% and introducing IMS and VoLTE to replace legacy 3G voice and launching 5G through the deployment of C-Band and Dynamic Spectrum Sharing of 700MHz. Mobile services customers now enjoy average speeds of 104 Mbps from 2019’s 27Mbps.
Nationwide fibre coverage has also increased from 54% (2019) to 94% (2024) with twice-reduced wholesale tariffs during this period that saw retail prices reduced to make ICT adoption more affordable and accessible for everyone, especially for the less fortunate segments of society. Fixed Broadband customers in Brunei is now guaranteed 100Mbps compared to 25Mbps in 2019.
These groundbreaking initiatives to improve connectivity and user experience across Brunei has earned the country an OOKLA ranking of number 1 in ASEAN and number 15 globally for mobile services and number 71st globally for Fixed services (in July 2024).
A panel of judges from Price Waterhouse Coopers, KPMG, Deloitte SEA, EV Asia-Pacific and RSM Hong Kong having reviewed several entries from the Asia Pacific region has deemed UNN deserving of the Asian Technology Excellence Award 2024 in the Network and Broadband – Telecommunications category in recognition of its efforts on 05 September 2024.
