His Royal Highness Prince Hj Al-Muhtadee Billah, the Crown Prince and Senior Minister at the Prime Minister's Office, yesterday morning consented to officially launch DST's GO! broadband service at the Empire Hotel and Country Club.

Upon arrival, HRH was greeted by Pehin Orang Kaya Seri Utama Dato Seri Setia Awg Hj Yahya bin Begawan Mudim Dato Paduka Hj Bakar, Minister of Energy at the Prime Minister's Office, in his capacity as the Chairman of the Brunei Investment Agency's Board of Directors, and Dr Awg Hj Mohd Amin Liew bin Abdullah, Board of Director Chairman and CEO of DST Group, as well as senior officials from various ministries and DST Group.

Describing the broadband system, Dr Awg Hj Mohd Amin Liew bin Abdullah in his welcoming remark said: "The network deployed is based on wideband code division multiple access high speed downlink packet access (or WCDMA HSDPA) 3G technology for a download speed of up to 7.2 megabit per second supplied by Ericsson.

"Installation work for the 3G network began in November 2007 and we have been able to launch our 3G service today on schedule. The 3G network that we are building now, will continuously be improved in terms of coverage and upgraded in terms of services and in the future, more services will be launched," he added.

"The DST Group GO! broadband service aims to facilitate faster access to the Internet while on the move, at home and at the office.

"This year DST Group is celebrating its 13th year of service to the nation. We are proud to say that we believe DST Group has played its role in contributing to the development of Brunei Darussalam and the well-being of our people. DST has also made remarkable progress in a very short span of time. From a staff of 20, the group now has a workforce of 500 trained and dedicated employees. Today, with almost 100 per cent local employees, the group is one of the leading exponents of the utilisation of local manpower within the private sector," he said.

Speaking of the launching of GO! broadband, Dr Awg Hj Mohd Amin Liew said, "Today, the official launch of our GO! broadband service also marks another in our endeavour to provide excellent service to our customers. DST Group is collaborating with computer OEM manufacturer DELL, Acer and Microsoft Corporation in ensuring that only genuine licensed Microsoft software is installed in all the laptops that we sell as part of the GO! broadband packages. Similarly, we are also collaborating with Apple to cater for the consumer demands."

After the official launching, the Crown Prince received a mock cheque of $40,000 from DST Group for the Pengiran Muda Mahkota Al-Muhtadee Billah Fund for Orphans.

Presenting the cheque to HRH on behalf of the DST Group was Dr Awg Hj Mohd Amin Liew.

HRH then received a pesambah from Dr Awg Hj Mohd Amin Liew and Miss Ann Emilson, President and Country Manager of Ericsson Singapore.

The Crown Prince was also given a tour of the 3G experience centre exhibition booths, showcasing the concept of Experience and Knowledge sharing on various products' packaging and bundling plan, display of hardware such as modem, router and laptop that comes with each plan being offered.

The ceremony concluded with a group photo with the Crown Prince. - Borneo Bulletin (2nd May 2008)