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News Release
October 9, 2000
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN -
Brunei today announced plans to take the Internet to remote jungle areas
in an ambitious telecommunications development project to wire rural
communities.
Buntar Osman, Director of
the Brunei Telecommunications Department, told a news conference that
the project was intended to "give equal opportunities in
telecommunications" to remote villages.
The 1.7 million dollar
first stage would put telephones into 15 communities in Tutong district
by March 2001 via relay stations and microwave transmission. "This
means not only telephone lines but also Internet access," Mr.
Buntar said.
Remote areas with no
electricity service would be provided with solar panels powering
batteries which can operate for four days without recharging, he added.
A second stage costing
some 4.6 million dollars would carry telecommunications services to
remote rural areas of the Belait district, with the final stage - to be
completed by the end of 2001 - to wire the Temburong district using
fiber optics technology.
The point to multipoint
subscriber radio access system on a full turnkey basis was covered under
an agreement signed today between the Brunei Telecommunications
Department and Primatel Communications Company. Canada's SR Telecom Inc.
(SRT) is to provide the equipment.
The sultanate of Brunei
Darussalam is composed of four districts: Brunei-Muara, the most heavily
populated and seat of the capital; Tutong; Belait, on the western border
with the Malaysian state of Sarawak; and Temburong, the most remote.
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