Singapore: Singapore Communication Profile

As Singapore enthusiastically embraces 4G/LTE, the operators respond by moving on to 4G+

Singapore has developed the status of a world leader in telecommunications through the building of a high quality and extremely progressive regulatory environment for the local telecommunications sector. This dynamic has, in turn, generated a highly competitive telecom market place in the island-national. The Infocomm Development Authority (IDA), the country’s telecoms regulator, reports that Singapore’s fixed-line household penetration rate around 100%, a lot of Singaporeans having two fixed telephone services at home. At the same time, its booming mobile market has a highly penetrated that is continuing to grow in subscribers and sophistication. Singapore’s 3G market segment has been on a increase surge over recent years but by 2014 it had by presently moved into decline with the advent of 4G. By August 2014 there were by presently 2.8 million 4G subscribers, this being a remarkable 50% penetration (people).

As Singapore’s mobile market continues its expansion, the numbers of fixed broadband access and data services are increasing at an impressive rate. The Residential Wired Broadband Household Penetration Rate, for example, had reached around 108% by mid-2014.

With strong leadership from its government and good support from its telecom service providers, Singapore is both a regional leader and a world player in telecommunications. The island-national certainly generates a positive outlook in its local telecommunications sector. The country has built what is widely seen as a high quality and extremely progressive telecommunications regulatory regime that has, in turn, resulted in a richly competitive market.

At the same time as building its sophisticated telecoms infrastructure, Singapore has successfully promoted itself an IT hub and a place of excellence at the same time as it comes to all things to do with IT and telecommunications. The country is determined to maintain its status and in the process it has been embarking on new and innovative telecom and IT projects. Typical of this emphasis on taking the lead, in 2014 SingTel and Huawei agreed to collaborate on 5G research and trials.

Although incumbent Singapore Telecommunications (SingTel) continues to play a major role in the local telecom sector, liberalisation has seen a significant number of new operators entering the market, helping to exploit the competitive situation. The arrival of strong competition in its own backyard saw SingTel expand offshore and, in what from presently on turned out to be a successful strategy, the company has been able to establish a considerable presence in regional markets, inclunding 100% ownership of Optus, the second ranked mobile operator in Australia. Its offshore presence includes subsidiaries in India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, Pakistan and Bangladesh. And through its alliance with Bharti Airtel in India it has further market presence in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Africa. The SingTel group had 514 million mobile subscribers across its a lot of markets by March 2014, the subscriber numbers having grown by a 10% in the previous 12 months.

With the government pushing to move Singapore into the forefront of IT development, the IDA announced back in 2008 that S$1 billion (US$725 million) had been allocated by the government to support the building and operating of a national optical fibre-based network as part of what was called the Next Generation National Infocomm Infrastructure (Next Gen NII); the strategy as well included a wireless network. Despite some problems with the rate of roll out, the development of this national network has been proceeding and by 2014 the rate of take up of fibre-based service was rapid indeed. In the 12 months to August 2014 fibre-based subscriptions had increased by around 100%.

• * Singapore’s in general mobile telephone penetration is presently well over the 100% mark (138% in January 2010) and continuing to increase;
• * The country’s 3G market is booming; there were around 3.2 million 3G subscribers at the start of 2009; this meant 47% of all mobile subscribers were 3G subscribers;
• * Entirely 100% of Singapore’s households presently have some form of high speed broadband Internet access;
• * The Singapore government has initiated a huge project to build the Next Generation National Infocomm Infrastructure (Next Gen NII), an island-wide broadband network;
• * Importantly, the Next Gen NII project has been structured to ensure an ‘open system’ with access being available to all operators;
• * The IDA reported in March 2010 that the roll-out of Next Gen NII was running to schedule, therefore offering the initial of the commercial services by June 2010, with a roll-out to 60% of the people by end-2010 and universal coverage by 2013.
• * In a complementary strategy the government has as well launched its Wireless@SG project, aimed at covering most of Singapore island with free wireless Internet access;
• * Fixed-line telephone services remain remarkably resilient in Singapore with an estimated 96% of households connected to the fixed network; about 20% of the people have two fixed-line telephones at home.