BDFone looking to export mobile phones

BDFONE Sdn Bhd, Brunei's first mobile phone manufacturer, announced it is currently in discussion with neighbouring Asean countries to export its phone models.

"So far the countries that we have discussions with, and we are still in the early stages, are the Philippines, Indonesia and Cambodia," said Zahid Ahmad, managing director of BDFone.

BDFone's factory, located in Lambak Kanan, currently has a capacity to produce 20,000 units a month and that 10 to 20 per cent of the phones manufactured will be sold locally.

"Right now we are producing about 3,000 to 8,000 units and we haven't officially launched yet, we only had a soft launch during the International Halal Products Expo," Zahid said, noting that production volume would depend on demand. BDFone is starting to test the waters locally first, he said.

"So far the response has been overwhelming because our phones are 'high-end low cost' mobile phones," said Zahid.

The PDA and Android phones are priced between $300 and $400.

"We don't want to target the market that spends thousands of dollars on their phones. These phone are targeted towards people who want the same functions as an expensive mobile phone," said the managing director. He added that some of the phones range from 2G to 3.5G phones, with wireless, GSM and GPS signalling and they are also able to collaborate with overseas partners to go into the second phase of their business, which is in research and development.

Zahid said there are two models that are ready for sale, the LC203 and the LC303.

He said BDFone wants to partner with Bruneian retailers and the two main telcos to promote the phones. "Right now we don't have a showroom, or a service centre so people who are interested to purchase the mobile phones would have to go to our factory and main office which is located in Lambak, but once the response starts to pick up and we see that there is a need to have our own showroom, then we will set one up," he said. "We believe that with the help of everyone we are working with, from a simple manufacturing operation we aim to become one of the prominent products Brunei can be known for."

The firm, which is working with the Authority for Info-communications Technology Industry, is awaiting its dealership licence to sell the phones.The Brunei Times