The Crown Prince consented to launch the Submarine Cable System
Thursday, 15th April 2010

His Royal Highness Prince Haji Al-Muhtadee Billah, the Crown Prince and Senior Minister at the Prime Minister's Office has consented to launch the Asia-America Gateway, AAG, Submarine Cable System.The system is another effort in upgrading and securing the telecommunication infrastructure as well as in maintaining the national interest in the communication links between Brunei Darussalam and the outside world.

Upon arrival at the Empire Hotel and Country Club, His Royal Highness was greeted by the Minister of Communication, Yang Berhormat Pehin Orang Kaya Seri Kerna Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Abu Bakar.

The ceremony began with the recitation of Surah Al-Fatihah led by Yang Dimuliakan Pehin Datu Imam Dato Paduka Seri Setia Ustaz Haji Awang Abdul Hamid.

In his welcoming speech,the Minister of Communications said the AAG submarine cable system was designed to provide one point nine-two terabytes per second data bandwidth which can accommodate the usage of the Internet, video and also multimedia which is ever increasing. Despite this positive development, according to Yang Berhormat, many challenges ahead need to be tackled to meet the increasing demand and hope of the public and industry, as well as to position Brunei Darussalam strategically to grab new opportunities in this digital era, covering development and increasing telecommunication infrastructure.

His Royal Highness consented to launch the Asia-America gateway Submarine Cable System.

The 20-kilometre AAG submarine cable is an optional high bandwidth optic submarine cable system, and is the first to link Southeast Asia directly to the United States of America through the Pacific Ocean. This system links ten locations in eight countries across the Asia-Pacific region namely Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei Darussalam, Vietnam, Hongkong, the Philippines and the United States via America Guam and Hawaii. Brunei Darussalam is one of the 'Branch Landing Party' for AAG with a total worth of investment 40 million US dollars. The government of His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam through Brooketon Sendirian Berhad invested 30 million US dollars, while Telecoms Brunei Berhad, TelBRU and the DST Group via DST International sub-group invested 5 million US dollars each respectively.

His Royal Highness later consented to sign on a document of Transfer of Rights between the government of His Majesty and Brunei International Gateway Sendirian Berhad, BIG. The signing of this document allows BIG company to take over the Brunei government's membership in the AAG submarine cable project, and simultaneously leading the project. The company is also responsible to manage the cable services as well as offering and selling the capacity to local and international telecommunication operators. The Minister of Communications signed on behalf of government, while BIG Sendirian Berhad was represented by the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Communications, Haji Awang Alaihuddin, as chairman of BIG.

Doa selamat was read by Yang Dimuliakan Pehin Datu Imam Dato Paduka Seri Setia Ustaz Haji Awang Abdul Hamid.

His Royal Highness also consented to launch Brunei International Gateway Sendirian Berhad website, "www.big.com.bn".

The establishment of the company is another important achievement in the info-communication industry in the country by upholding the Public Sector Partnership concept. This company was set up under a joint agreement among shareholders of BIG Company Sendirian Berhad which was signed on 13th July last year and registered on 17th August the same year.

Currently, Brunei Darussalam is kinked with the outside world through the South-East Asia-Middle East-West Europe 3 submarine cable network system, in short SEA-ME-WE 3.

Brunei's involvement in the AAG project reflects the commitment of His Majesty's government in securing the country's stability and interest in international relations by providing international alternative links through the submarine cable system, besides the submarine cable system SEA-ME-WE 3. With this AAG submarine cable system, all business activities in the country will further develop links and bandwidth for the progress of local ICT industry as well as to build confidence among foreign investors. Investment in development and strategic international communication infrastructure is in line with His Majesty's government mission to provide a safe, efficient and accessible communication system in strengthening the nation's capability, the economy and quality of life of the citizens.

Source: RTB News Click Here