Friday, 30 November 2007

Ericsson Inaugurates Brunei Branch Office

Ericsson has made its foray into the Brunei market by establishing a branch office underscoring its long-term commitment to the country and to the growth and development of its telecommunications industry.

The office will house about twenty staff, comprising of both local and foreign employees and for the near-term will be focused on servicing and supporting Brunie’s leading mobile network operator, service and entertainment provider DataStream Technology Sdn Bhd (DST).

The partnership will see Ericsson deploy its WCDMA High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA) network nationwide.

"The Brunei office opening is significant in Ericsson’s efforts to extend our global footprint, especially in high growth markets. Brunei, with its relatively high annual GDP per capita, is a strong consumer of telecommunications services. There is an eagerness to have the most modern infrastructure available. Ericsson now wants to play a key role in advancing Brunei’s telecommunications industry and this office opening coupled with our DST win is very timely,” said Ann Emilson, President and Country Manager of Ericsson Singapore.

Brunei has a booming mobile market with penetration reaching almost 80% in 2007. In contrast, fixed broadband penetration stands at around 5%, with 41% of Brunei’s population are Internet users.

As such, Ericsson said it will be focused on supporting Brunei’s operators in developing the country's high speed data communications and broadband access for both fixed and mobile. This will help the operators expand their reach and profitably tap into this growing market.

“The opening of an Ericsson branch office in Brunei is a major breakthrough in the bilateral commercial relations between Sweden and Brunei", comments the Ambassador of Sweden, Pдr Ahlberger.

"This long-term commitment by Ericsson in the development of the telecommunication industry in Brunei is very welcomed and I am confident that other commercial projects will follow".
Ericsson Singapore will continue to play a supporting role in driving the branch office's operations.

“Projects engineers from the Singapore team will be based in Brunei from time to time and the two teams will continue to collaborate closely in sales and marketing, implementation and support. Prior to the establishment of Ericsson’s Brunei office, Ericsson's presence in the country was supported out of Singapore," said Emilson.