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BRUNEI

broadband. 1 Mbit/s was only recently introduced in 2006 and priced at BND$308 per month (Equivalent to Singapore currency). It is known that the Brunei's broadband ranging from 512 kbit/s to 1 Mbit/s is one the most expensive in the world. The limited market in Brunei means that development in the telecommunications sector is stagnant. Currently only about 30000 users out of a population of 380,000 have any connection to the Internet. However, more and more users are subscribing to 3G Mobile services. Broadband coverage has spanned the whole of Brunei since the release of "E-Speed 2".

Pricing of ADSL service in Brunei


CHINA

See Also: Internet in the People's Republic of China


China has a broadband users of 90.7 million by the end of as the country with the most broadband subscribers by 2007. A majority of broadband subscribers are DSL, mostly from China Mobile and China Netcom . The price varies at different provinces, usually around US$10 - $20/month for a 1M DSL with unlimited downloads.


HONG KONG

In Hong Kong , as of April 2006 HKBN offers its customers internet access with speeds starting from 10 Mbit/s (19 USD a month) up to 1000 Mbit/s (1 Gbit/s) (215 USD a month) via Fiber To The Building and Fiber To The Home . However the speed to non-Hong Kong destinations is capped to 20 Mbit/s.
HKBN also provides FTTH plans for speeds up to BB100 (100/100 Mbit/s) and BB25 (25/25 Mbit/s), for approximately US$25 and US$22 monthly.

Major Internet Service Providers (ISPs) include:
  • PCCW Netvigator , with a 95% coverage area and providing internet access to 1.9 million users. ADSL connections at 3 Mbit/s and 6-8 Mbit/s are priced differently. Newly constructed apartments have ADSL2 connections, which have speeds up to 18M/1M. Business plans may have plans which speeds up to 1G/1G.

  • HGC ADSL & VDSL broadband of speeds up to 100M/100M.

  • NWT ADSL & VDSL broadband of speeds up to 10M/10M ''(page in Chinese)''.

  • HKBN CAT5e broadband of speeds up to 1G/1G.

  • One Broadband ADSL broadband of speeds up to 8M/256K.

  • I-cable Broadband Cable Broadband of speeds up to 8M/8M shared by one apartment.



INDIA

See Also: Communications in India


Broadband connections have continued growth since beginning on 2006.


INDONESIA

See Also: Internet in Indonesia




IRAN

See Also: Communications in Iran


ADSL in Iran appeared in January 2004.


ISRAEL

See Also: Communications in Israel




JAPAN

See Also: Internet in Japan




KYRGYZSTAN

See Also: Communications in Kyrgyzstan




MALAYSIA

See Also: Internet in Malaysia




NORTH KOREA


North Korea is a communist state almost completely isolated from the rest of the world. They do have a public telephone system but no broadband. BGAN Coverage is available offering download speeds up to 492 kbit/s and upload speeds of 400 kbit/s however it would be extremely difficult to smuggle a BGAN terminal into the country. The one internet cafe in Pyongyang uses a Satellite Internet connection. In 2007 Thuraya coverage will be available with terminals slightly smaller than a laptop.

A few of the government elite are connected to the internet via a secret link to China. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CEEDF173FF930A15753C1A9609C8B63&n=Top%2FReference%2FTimes%20Topics%2FPeople%2FK%2FKim%20Jong%20Il


PAKISTAN

See Also: Communications in Pakistan




PHILIPPINES

See Also: Communications in the Philippines




QATAR

ADSL launched 2002 in Qatar provided by Qtel with 25000 ADSL users Ref

Speeds:
  • ADSL 512 kbit/s $55/Month

  • ADSL 1 Mbit/s $83/Month

  • ADSL 2 Mbit/s $111/Month


Links:


UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

Currently, there is only one provider in the United Arab Emirates that provides ADSL - Etisalat . The service is offered under the Al Shamil brand.

The service includes the following plans:

  • Light Usage, Limited Access (15 hours/month1) (256 kbit/s) AED 99/month (Approx. USD 27)

  • Light Usage (256 kbit/s) AED 149/month (Approx. USD 41)

  • Moderate Usage(512 kbit/s) AED 189/month (Approx. USD 52)

  • Active Usage(1 Mbit/s)AED 249/month (Approx. USD 68)

  • Heavy Usage(2 Mbit/s)AED 349/month (Approx. USD 95)


1The Limited Access Light Usage plan will be charged AED 2.99 (USD 0.82) per hour if usage exceeds 15 hours/month.
(Source: AlShamil )

Links: AlShamil Website



OMAN

ADSL services were launched in 2005 in Oman through the provider Omantel , the only ISP in Oman.

Speeds available:

  • ADSL 384 kbit/s for home users:

  • --- Limited bandwidth: monthly ADSL line rent costs 12 R.O ($32) and charge is 1 R.O ($2.6) per 1 GB down/upload.

  • --- Unlimited bandwidth: monthly ADSL line rent costs 12 R.O and monthly subscription is 27 R.O, which equals 39 R.O ($102) monthly.


  • ADSL 512 kbit/s which is only available to schools: monthly unlimited use costs 20 R.O ($52).


  • ADSL 1 Mbit/s which is only available to government & business users: monthly ADSL line rent costs 120 R.O ($313) and charge is 1 R.O ($2.6) per 1 GB down/upload.



SAUDI ARABIA

See Also: Communications in Saudi Arabia


ADSL service in Saudi Arabia has become available since 2001.


SINGAPORE

See Also: Communications in Singapore




SOUTH KOREA

See Also: Communications in South Korea



South Korea leads in the number of DSL connections per head world-wide. ADSL is standard, but VDSL has started growing quickly. ADSL commonly offers speeds of 2 Mbit/s to 8 Mbit/s, with VDSL accordingly faster. The large proportion of South Korea's population living in apartment blocks helps the spread of DSL, as does a high penetration of consumer electronics in general. Special "Cyber" Apartment buildings have speeds of up to 100 Mbit/s at about 30000 Won a month (US$30). VDSL is commonly found in newer apartments while ADSL is normally found in landed properties where the telephone exchange is far away. The Internet has a higher status for many Koreans than it does in the West, and the government actively supports this.


SRI LANKA

ADSL was introduced to Sri Lanka in 2003 by provider Sri Lanka Telecom .

The average speed is 512/128 kbit/s, costing Rs. 2500+VAT per month for an unmetered flat rate. This is the standard for SLT and resellers. Faster connections up to 2 Mbit/s are available, but the price is considerably higher (Rs. 6500 for 2 Mbit/s).
The service is available within the Greater Colombo area, Kandy,Galle and extending. Recently Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT) has introduced a new plan where one gets to use upto 1GB of transfer per month for Rs. 1000/- (US$ 10 approx.) at speeds of 512k/128k. Each addiotional block of 250Mb is billed at Rs. 250/-.


SYRIA

See Also: Communications in Syria


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THAILAND


Thailand is continuously having a rapid growth in the number of ADSL subscribers. After 2002, when the Thai government has announced its policy on making access to the internet cheaper, the huge number of the population of Thailand started using internet, as dial-up connections were available for free to the public. After a while, local telecommunication companys such as TOT, CAT, TT&T and True had started a low-cost ADSL service. The connection speed varied around 256/128 kbit/s to 512/128 kbit/s with the price around 550 Baht per month ($15 U.S. Dollars). However, the quality of the service was in debate especially the speed of the international connection.

Currently, Thailand has almost 80% of ADSL coverage but only a small number of the population of the country subscribes to the service. The majority of them are those who live in Bangkok and other major cities in Thailand. The price of the service is lowered with the combination of other integrated services such as VoIP, free-online gaming membership, IPTV, etc. The variety of the speed is now from 256/128 kbit/s to 8/1 Mbit/s. The price is now from 250 to 4000 Baht per month.

Online gaming, video news archives, HDTV and internet socialization are the things that create such rapid growth of broadband internet in Thailand.


SEE ALSO