Indonesia is keen to seek ways on how best to '€œconnect'€ with Brunei and agree on the most feasible roaming rates between two countries, Tifatul Sembiring told The Brunei Times at the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific ICT Ministerial Meeting.

He said Indonesia is also interested to have the same arrangement with other ASEAN member states.

He said Brunei'€™s priority areas for ICT may differ from what his country focuses on.

'€œBut between the two countries, we can increase our relationship in ICT,'€ Tifatul said.

The minister said due to Indonesia'€™s large land size and big population, the focus is on ensuring an even distribution of infrastructure and mobile network across the country.

'€œBrunei may be one of the leading countries with faster internet access with the introduction of 4G. But this is also because the priority is set on providing fast network as everybody in the country will already have good access to internet,'€ he said.

Tifatul also encouraged telco operators and service providers from both countries to work together and form business tie-ups.

'€œIndonesia has 14 operators and more than 300 internet service providers. The top three operators can offer a revenue of up to 95 per cent for Indonesia,'€ he said.

He said countries like Brunei, Indonesia and Malaysia should be working together due to their cultural similarities.

'€œWe have the same language, almost the majority are Muslims, we have the same culture, I think is very important to heighten cooperation amongst each other,'€ Tifatul said.

Brunei and Singapore on Wednesday signed an agreement that will slash mobile roaming rates by up to 50 per cent starting January next year. (***)

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