Brunei Darussalam - Infrastructure, power, and communications

Brunei's infrastructure is well developed. The road network serving the entire country is being expanded and modernized and totaled 2,525 kilometers (1,569 miles) in 1998. A 1,150-kilometer (715-mile) main highway, of which 399 kilometers (248 miles) are paved, runs the entire length of the country's coastline. It conveniently links Muara, the port at the eastern end, to Belait, the oil-production center at the western end of the state. Per capita car ownership in Brunei is one of the highest in the world. In 1995 there were 167,786 cars, of which 139,658 were private cars. Since 1996 the Brunei government has attempted to improve public transit by expanding taxi and bus services in Bandar Seri Begawan and its vicinity. Bus services to other districts are infrequent and irregular. Other than a 13-kilometer (8-mile) private railway line, there are no rail services in Brunei.

Brunei has 2 major ports: a large, deepwater harbor at Muara and a smaller port at Kuala Belait. They offer direct shipping to Hong Kong, Singapore, and several other Asian destinations. An expanded international airport is located at Bandar Seri Begawan. Royal Brunei Airlines (RBA) serves long-distance destinations in Asia, Australia, the Middle East, and Europe, as well as several short-haul destinations to East Malaysia and Indonesia, and Brunei Shell Petroleum (BSP) owns a small airport in the oil field at Seria.

Brunei has one of the best telecommunication systems in Southeast Asia. The rate of telephone availability is currently 1 telephone for every 3 persons. There are 2 earth satellite stations providing direct telephone, telex, and facsimile links to most parts of the world. There are 2 television broadcast stations and, by 1997, there were 196,009 TV sets. Brunei was connected to the Internet in September 1995 through Brunet. By the end of 1999 there were 15,000 registered Internet users in the country. Keen to develop e-commerce , the government is investing B$55 million in installing a countrywide multimedia highway called RAGAM 21 to serve both the private and public sectors.

According to the CIA World Factbook 2000 , 2.56 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity were generated and 2.381 billion kWh consumed in Brunei in 1998. There were no exports or imports of electricity. All the electricity is produced from fossil fuels (oil and gas). The country has no nuclear or hydro-power plants.