BRUNEI-MUARA – Datastream Digital (DST) on Friday launched its revamped products and services as part of the relaunch of its brand following the restructuring of the telco industry

DST CEO Radin Sufri Radin Basiuni said the telco has redesigned its products and services to add more value for its 420,000 customers.

DST launched the “Enable Limitless Connectivity, Everywhere” campaign at The Empire, culminating with the unveiling of its Eas!, Freedom, Mobi and Infinity plans.

The popular prepaid mobile service Easi sees new bundles, for $8 (7 day validity) and $22 (30 day validity), as well as data add-on packages.

While postpaid services, renamed from Prima to Mobi, have been simplified to monthly plans of $30, $50 and $80. Calls and SMS are all unlimited with data bundles ranging from 8GB, 20GB and 65GB respectively. 

Freedom is DST’s new mobile broadband product to replace the GO!broadband, with plans ranging from $18 to $63 a month.

Infinity marks the telco’s first foray into fibre-to-the-home, offering eight fixed-line packages starting at $38 for a 200GB data quota. 

As part of the launch, DST has been offering a number of promotions to entice customers to upgrade services — such as free data, smartphones and other discounts — as well as trying to lure customers to switch from other service providers. 

The telco is also offering a free FTTH subscription of 200GB a month if four postpaid mobile customers sign up to a Converge Plan.

Transformation of telco sector

The DST Chairman YB Dato Seri Setia Dr Hj Mohd Amin Liew Abdullah said the transformation of Brunei’s telecommunications sector meant there may be some lingering fears and tensions among telco workers.

“The transformation of the sector was necessary for Brunei to keep pace with the rest of the world to move ahead with the digital revolution,” he said at the company’s relaunch. 

“It is critical to ensure that no Bruneians would be left behind and Bruneians will be taken care of, this was the promise that we have made on the outset of the ICT sector transformation initiative.”

Government-linked company Unified National Networks (UNN) was established last year to manage Brunei’s network infrastructure, with the three service providers now focusing solely on retail operations.

DST Chairman YB Dato Dr Hj Mohd Amin Liew (C) and DST CEO Radin Sufri (4R) in a group photo at the launch event of the telco’s new products and services at The Empire Hotel on Jan 24, 2020. Photo: Rasidah Hj Abu Bakar/The Scoop

YB Dato Dr Hj Mohd Amin Liew said with the launch of the new telco subsidiaries (Datastream Digital, imagine and Progresif) the older parent companies DST Communications, Telekom Brunei Berhad and Progresif Cellular will be transformed into “development companies” to be launched in the coming weeks.

“We are developing other businesses out of these entities to provide services that are required not only by the players in the new ecosystem but to cater to external needs as well,” he said.

The DST chairman, who is also second minister of finance and economy, said telco workers who have not transitioned into roles in the new subsidiaries or UNN will be placed in the development companies where they will be supported by career coaches. 

The coaches will help identify their professional aspirations and create tailored development plans, while the development company will then provide resources for further training or upskilling. 

He added that industry partners will also be sought to “become the springboard for employees’ future careers”.