The Impact of Smartphone on the Telecommunication Industry in Brunei Darussalam

Abstract

This article addresses the challenges faced by the telecommunication industry in Brunei Darussalam posed by the evolution of smartphones and the rapid growth of the Internet over the years, particularly, the changes in general user usage pattern, as well as examining the measures undertaken by these companies to address these challenges. Online questionnaires were distributed to the general public for the purpose of collecting the pattern of phone usage both presently and a decade ago. The findings indicated that there was a shift in the overall user preference of communicating via mobile phones, where, in this day and age, most prefer to communicate through the internet as opposed to a decade ago where consumers were more partial to communicating via traditional SMS and calls. This shift resulted in high demand for mobile internet data by the consumers, hence, creating a huge hindrance towards the revenue streams of the telecommunication companies. This pressure called for a restructuring in the telecommunication companies to accommodate this growing trend of high Internet usage.