Brunei Communications
Despite strict regulations on the media in Brunei visitors have excellent access to international news. Mobile phone coverage is good, meaning you can keep in touch with ease even when traveling off the beaten track. Most hotels are fitted with satellite television.
Telephone
Brunei’s telecommunication network is among the best in Southeast Asia. There are both fixed land lines and satellite stations to provide worldwide IDD, fax and telex links. All hotels in the country are equipped with these facilities. Public telephones can be found at post offices and large shopping areas, offering both coin and phone card service.
Hallokad telephone cards can be purchased at Telecom offices in every town and at most retailers. Brunei’s country code is: 673. The country has roaming agreements with several international mobile phone companies, offering decent coverage around the main cities, especially in the northwest region.
Mobile Phones
Brunei is popular with mobile phone users owing to pay as you go SIMs and new systems like GPRS. There is good coverage around the country, in particular in the major cities and especially in the northwest around Bandar Seri Begawan. There are roaming agreements with some of the major international mobile phone companies, while GPRS services have also been implemented.
Internet
Internet cafés are quite popular in the capital Bandar Seri Begawan, and relatively cheap to use. Brunei’s internet server is called BruNet, and runs via fiber optic cables linked with Singapore. This allows for reliable, fast international network connections. A wireless network is in the process of being implemented, starting in the Rimba-Gadong region.
Post
For visitor’s convenience, most hotels provide full postal services at their front desk. Every town has a post office which opens from 07:45 to 16:30 everyday except Friday and Sunday. Operating hours on Fridays run from 08:00 to 11:00, and 14:00 to 16:00 to accommodate Friday prayers. Express postal service, known as Speedpost, is available.
Media
Brunei's media is neither open nor free. Although the press is privately-owned by the sultan’s family, it is heavily controlled on political and religious matters. In addition, radio and television are run by government-controlled Radio Television Brunei and there is a law on printing or broadcasting ‘false news’. The internet is supposedly unrestricted, however, while English language programs come in via cable network.
TV
The state controls the TV through Radio Television Brunei. It is the only public broadcaster and has local and imported programs. There is no freedom though, with news consisting of often trivial matters and no criticism of the government. English programs are available through satellite and cable, with 14 channels ranging from BBC World to movie and music channels.
Newspapers
There are four newspapers in Brunei including: Pelita Brunei, a free Malay paper that comes out twice weekly; Media Permata, a Malay-only daily paper; the Borneo Bulletin, which is the only independent English-language newspaper; and the Brunei Times, a daily English-language broadsheet. Political and religious matters are heavily censored by reporters and editors. Foreign newspapers include Malaysia’s Borneo Post and New Straits Times, the Straits Times from Singapore, as well as the International Herald Tribune.
Radio
The state-controlled Radio Television Brunei (RTB) is the umbrella organization for the radio in Brunei, which is broadcast in Malay, English, Chinese (Mandarin), and Gurkhali – FM 10. Satellite also allows for solely English-language stations, which also receive several worthwhile television channels.
