At FutureNet Asia 2025, Vinod Joseph, Vice President for Cloud, AI and Enterprise Architecture at Singtel Group, shared a deep dive into how telcos can scale AI in a cloud native manner. His talk moved beyond the buzz around generative AI and looked at the infrastructure and operational realities required for long-term success.
Vinod positioned the industry as moving into a second phase of AI adoption. The early phase focused on agents, copilots and low-code platforms. The next phase, however, demands robust systems for managing data pipelines, training and fine-tuning models, monitoring model performance and deploying AI in production environments at scale. He stressed that this shift requires not only flexible cloud environments, but also consistent engineering practices and strong governance frameworks.
A core theme of the session was the importance of avoiding proprietary lock-in. Vinod argued that as AI workloads grow, organisations need the freedom to deploy where it makes sense, whether on-premises or on public cloud, while maintaining agility and operational consistency. Kubernetes featured strongly as a foundational platform for AI workloads, offering orchestration capabilities and portability across environments.
Three open-source frameworks were highlighted as central to Singtel’s approach. Kubeflow supports the orchestration of AI and machine learning pipelines, handling key stages from model training to promotion into production. Ray helps distribute compute workloads across GPUs and servers, enabling efficient training of large-scale models where data and model components cannot fit on a single device. MLflow, meanwhile, provides experiment tracking, model registry and deployment management, simplifying lifecycle operations and improving observability.
Vinod stressed that scaling AI requires more than computational power. Efficient data handling, reproducibility, experiment lineage and reliable recovery from failures are just as important. As organisations accelerate AI adoption, these capabilities become essential not only for performance, but for cost control. Open-source tooling, he argued, is becoming increasingly competitive and offers a viable way to balance capability with economic scale.
Singtel’s perspective reflects a growing maturity in telecom AI strategy. The focus is shifting from exploration to industrialisation, from early pilots to repeatable and governable systems. With cloud native architectures, distributed computing and open frameworks at the core, the goal is to build platforms that can scale flexibly, avoid dependency on any single vendor and support the next generation of AI-driven services.
The full presentation is available below for anyone who would like to watch it:
The Global 100 is an annual assessment by Corporate Knights Inc. The 100 most responsible companies in the world were selected based on an assessment of 6,733 international listed companies against 25 metrics for environmental responsibility, social responsibility and good governance.
Since 2005, the Global 100 has been one of the world’s most valued and transparent rules-based sustainability ratings that emphasizes the impact of a company’s core products and services. It is the best-performing global sustainability index (ticker: CKG100), with more than 10 years of history. All publicly traded companies with more than US$1 billion in revenue are assessed across 25 key performance indicators that cover resource management, employee management, financial management, sustainable revenue and sustainable investment, and supplier performance. Companies engaging in “red flag” activities such as blocking climate policy and contributing to deforestation are disqualified.
Telecom TV's morning headlines newsletter produced a nice summary reproduced below:
Seven telecom operators have ended up in the Global 100 ranking of the world’s most sustainable companies, compiled by Canadian sustainable economy magazine Corporate Knights. Bell Canada scored the highest among its telco peers, ranking 51st globally (down from 42nd in 2023). Next of the telecom providers is Finnish operator Elisa (59th), Singaporean telco Singtel (62nd), North American hybrid fibre coaxial cable operator Cogeco Communications (73rd), Brazilian telco Telefônica Brasil (75th), Singaporean operator StarHub (80th, down from 34th last year) and Canadian telco Telus (85th, down from position 37st last year). On the vendor side, Ericsson is recognised as one of the most sustainable companies worldwide, climbing from position 65 in 2023 to 15 this year. Cisco is also present, ranking 64th. Tech giant Apple has climbed a mere two spots to 71st place globally. Corporate Knights explained that the rankings included all public companies with more than US$1bn in revenue, with assessments made across 25 key indicators, including percentage of “sustainable revenue” and “sustainable investment” into green solutions, such as renewable energy and energy efficiency, taxes paid, carbon productivity, and racial and gender diversity.
It's great to see MNOs taking initiatives for a sustainable future.
Singapore is a small country, roughly the size of Bahrain; 3.5 times the size of Washington DC or half the size of London, UK. That hasn't stopped it from reaching many 5G milestones. In a recent announcement, Singtel, the market leader, said that their 5G network now surpasses 95% nationwide coverage.
The following is an extract from the press release:
This comes more than three years ahead of the regulatory target of end-2025, effectively making Singapore the first country in the world to be fully covered by standalone 5G.
Singtel’s standalone 5G network now covers more than 1,300 outdoor locations and over 400 in-building, as well as underground, creating immense opportunities for the development of ground-breaking applications and immersive experiences for both enterprises and consumers. Singtel was officially awarded the 3.5GHz and the millimetre wave spectrum as part of the 5G licence issued by the IMDA in June 2020, and an additional 2.1GHz spectrum in Nov 2021 which supported the achievement of this critical milestone.
Singtel has achieved many firsts in Singapore’s 5G journey, from launching the first pilot network in July 2018, the first standalone network in May 2021 to providing 5G in the North East Mass Rapid Transit Line that runs entirely underground in May 2022.
Singaporeans will get to experience their first 5G National Day Parade celebration which is being held at the floating platform this year, after a two-year hiatus due to COVID. To mark this nationwide rollout, this year’s Parade will be fully streamed on 5G – showcasing Singtel’s enhanced mobile broadband capability to support ultra-high-definition content. On-site spectators will enjoy high speed connectivity, enabling seamless streaming or uploading of high-resolution content from the Parade.
Singtel has been making steady progress in commercialising 5G. To support the development of a whole host of public sector 5G use cases for the built environment, transport, and tourism industries, Singtel launched the 5G@Sentosa testbed last year, in partnership with multiple government agencies, including the Government Technology Agency and the Sentosa Development Corporation. Around 15 live trials are slated to be running by the end of this year, and at least 30 by the first half of 2023.
Earlier this year, Singtel launched Paragon – the industry’s first all-in-one orchestration platform that consolidates all the necessary resources required across 5G and edge computing into one touchpoint, thus significantly lowering the barriers to 5G adoption and integration for enterprises, from cost to complexity. Recent partnerships include AETOS, Micron and Hyundai who have deployed 5G solutions to improve operational efficiencies, drive innovation and enhance problem-solving and decision-making capabilities.
On the consumer front, Singtel has successfully demonstrated 5G’s benefits and impact through use cases such as Singapore’s first 5G-powered remote racing in Sentosa and The People’s Gallery, an exhibition developed in collaboration with National Gallery that leverages augmented reality to transform more than 25 neighbourhood void decks into art galleries.
Singapore, the island city-state of 728.6 km², which is home to four communications services providers, plus MVNOs, now has blanket 5G coverage via Singtel’s 5G network. The operator, which lost its domestic monopoly in 2000 when the Singaporean government deregulated the telecoms industry, has completed the task more than three years ahead of schedule – and despite the immense disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. Singtel is the country’s biggest mobile provider with some 4.1 million subscribers and now, should any 5G subscriber feel a bit lost in and around the primary and secondary rainforests and lakes that remain untouched in the centre of the island and cover 21.96% of Singapore’s land mass, well, they won’t need to worry because, when their phone is on, Singtel will know where they are and the appropriate app will guide them back to the nearest air-conditioned shopping mall. The 5G network now covers more than 1,300 outdoor locations and provides signal in more than 400 buildings in addition to the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) underground/overground rail system. Not to be outdone, two of Singtel’s biggest rivals, M1 and Starhub, are also deploying “island-wide” 5G. Talk about an embarrassment of riches.
The Covid-19 pandemic had a significant impact on Singapore’s telecom sector in 2020, pushing down penetration rates and delaying several major infrastructure projects due to production and supply chain disruptions. The good news, at least, is that the overall effect on the sector has been relatively modest compared to other industries that effectively collapsed under the shutdown. Telecommunications remained an essential service during the period, with many people even needing to upgrade their services and plans to enable a shift to working and schooling from home. Singapore’s modern infrastructure and capacity weathered the storm well.
Most telecom operators suffered financially, with declines in revenue and profit as subscribers tightened their belts and reduced discretionary spending. The downturn was roughly in line with the retraction in the Singapore economy. All the major players continued to provide services, and to proceed with their investment programs, particularly in 5G networks (with a focus on standalone). The operators are voicing strong optimism for the coming months as travel restrictions are reduced and economic activity starts to bounce back. While forecasting should be viewed as a very risky activity in such uncertain times, there is a high degree of confidence across the industry that penetration rates in Singapore will quickly return to pre-Covid-19 levels.
Singapore continues to push ahead with its 5G rollout. 5G networks and services are expected to form the backbone of growth in the telco sector over the coming years as service providers seek new ways to engage customers in a market that is otherwise already saturated.
Singapore currently has 4 mobile operators, Singtel Mobile, StarHub, M1 and TPG Telecom (4G-only).
Singtel is the market leader, Starhub is in second position, M1 is in third and TPG is in fourth. Coverage and speed is excellent in the city on the three major networks. No 2G is available, 3G on 900 and 2100 MHz, and 4G/LTE has started on all three providers on 1800 MHz (band 3) and 2600 MHz (band 7). 900 MHz (band 8) and 2500 MHz (band 41) were later added, and from 2019 spectrum on 700 MHz (band 28) is added for 4G/LTE.
5G trials were started by Starhub in August 2020 on 2100 MHz (n1) and by Singtel in September 2020 on both 2100 MHz (n1) and 3500 MHz (n78), and quietly commenced commercial operations on the three major operators in early-2021 when 3500 MHz (n78) was also added for 5G for Starhub and M1, but is currently not open for prepaid.
The coverage and speeds in this city state are superb by all three providers. 4G/LTE covers all of the city outdoors and the MRT (= metro, subway). Note that for Singapore you'll need to bring a 3G/4G device as 2G is switched off. 2G/GSM networks of all three providers were shut down on April 1, 2017. There is no 2G coverage anymore. So bring a 3G or 4G/LTE capable device. The sale of 2G-only mobile devices has been banned from January 2017 or retailers could be given a penalty.
Singtel Mobile by the Singtel Group is the biggest provider in town and has a market share of about 45%. The Singapore Telecommunications Ltd. is one of the largest mobile network operators in Southeast Asia. It has a coverage of 99% for 3G and 4G/LTE: Singtel 3G 4G. 4G/LTE is on 900, 1800 and 2600 MHz, bands 3, 7 and 8.
Singtel is ramping up its 5G standalone (SA) deployment in Singapore, by expanding the network and developing new 5G use cases in partnership with Ericsson. In a press release the Swedish vendor said it is powering Singtel’s 5G SA network with 5G radio access products and cloud-native dual-mode 5G Core network solutions. The pair hope to deliver high-quality connectivity for outdoor coverage in densely populated areas and help drive strong indoor-mall coverage across the city-state. Ericsson went on to say ‘the COVID-19 pandemic has fuelled the need for better connectivity indoors, due to the numerous travel and lock-down restrictions’. The deployment builds on a long-standing relationship between the two companies, including with Singtel’s initial wave of 5G rollouts.
In September 2021 Singtel confirmed that its 5G network now covers over two-thirds of Singapore, with new 5G sites added in densely populated areas like Choa Chu Kang, Punggol, Sembawang and Tampines. In addition, the mobile operator has expanded its 5G indoor coverage to more major shopping malls island-wide such as Funan, West Mall, Tampines Mall, Northpoint City and Waterway Point. In April 2021 Singtel revealed that as part of its 5G ‘push’, it had deployed hundreds of 5G SA sites across the city-state, in areas such as Orchard Road, the Central Business District, Harbourfront and Sentosa. With work ongoing to boost in-building coverage in Ngee Ann City and selected Singtel Shops across Singapore (having already begun the process at VivoCity), Singtel confirmed that in readiness for commercial launch, it had begun offering 5G SA compatible SIM cards. The cellco’s 5G SA sites run on 3.5GHz spectrum, enabling it to deliver ultra-fast speeds and swifter response times.
StarHub by local StarHub Ltd. is the 2nd provider in Singapore giving good speeds and coverage in 3G and 4G/LTE reaching a nationwide coverage. StarHub is the local partner of Vodafone and is the only provider to offer VoLTE (branded as HD Voice+) on prepaid. 4G/LTE is on 1800, 2100, 2500 and 2600 MHz, bands 1, 3, 7 and 41. StarHub's 5G standalone network has also been very successful:
Singapore's Starhub reports over 300k 5G subscribers - 15.4% of mobile base EoY 2021. Starhub says that it is in the lead which might be true as Singtel reported 200k in September (December not yet reported) while M1 hasn't stated a number. https://t.co/knXBQa02RMpic.twitter.com/KM3Fw0OJiE
M1 (previously known as MobileOne) is the 3rd largest national provider in Singapore. Coverage on 3G and 4G is on par with the other two providers. 4G/LTE is on 1800 and 2600 MHz, bands 3 and 7.
M1 launched its 5G Standalone network in July 2021 via what it terms ‘an exclusive market trial, allowing both its existing and new mobile customers to enjoy the enhanced benefits of the … technology’. In a press release the operator confirmed that customers can experience ‘true’ 5G by signing-up for a ‘5Go Plus Booster’ plan both online or in-store. As part of this, the carrier is running an exclusive launch promotion giving users ‘at least three months of free access to the True 5G experience, following which they can continue to enjoy the service at a discounted price starting at SGD5 per month, until the end of 2021’.
The operator’s new 5G SA network currently covers about 50% of the city-state including the Central Business District (CBD), Marina Bay Financial Centre, key town centres and high data usage areas such as Ang Mo Kio, Bishan, Chinatown, Clementi, Orchard Road, Pasir Ris, Paya Lebar, Sengkang, Tampines and Woodlands. Going forward, M1 plans to extend coverage to 75% of Singapore by the end of 2021 with full coverage completed by the end of 2022 – eclipsing the regulator’s requirements of 50% coverage by that date.
In 2016 the bidding auction for a 4th operator was started. The winner was named with TPG Telecom from Australia, founded by Malaysian billionaire David Teoh. It was allocated spectrum in the unusual 900 MHz and 2300 MHz bands (8 and 40) to provide only 4G/LTE services which started in 2020.
According to Mobile World Live TPG Telecom has two years to reach 50 per cent coverage with an SA 5G network and five years for nationwide. It holds spectrum in the 900MHz and 2.3GHz bands won as part of its market entry in 2016. It has also been provisionally awarded 2 (two) 5MHz paired lots of spectrum in the 2.1 GHz band for a price of S$31m.
Singtel announced the launch its 5G Standalone (SA) network in May, offering customers early access to the most advanced 5G connectivity globally. Compared to 4G, 5G SA delivers twice the responsiveness, 30% faster uploads, and strengthened authentication and encryption capability. With much greater bandwidth and near-instant responses, 5G SA will enable revolutionary applications like self-driving cars, real-time immersive entertainment, and massive IoT (Internet of Things) connections.
This infographic shows all the things 5G Standalone can do.
In addition, Singtel also produced a series of 5G videos explaining the benefits of 5G from Standalone point of view.
Since last September, Singtel has been operating Singapore’s fastest 5G NSA network under a market trial, offering 5G speeds of up to 1.2 Gbps. Within a year of receiving its 5G licence, Singtel has now turned on 5G SA and deployed over a thousand 5G sites across Singapore in strategic locations such as Orchard Road, the Central Business District, Marina Bay, Harbourfront and Sentosa, as well as major residential areas including Sengkang, Punggol, Pasir Ris, Jurong East, Woodlands, and more. It is the only telco in Singapore to roll out in-building 5G, covering popular malls such as VivoCity and Ngee Ann City, and will continue to expand its indoor 5G footprint in the coming months.
On the enterprise front, Singtel is focused on accelerating 5G innovation and 5G adoption, launching Genie, the world’s first portable 5G-in-a-box platform and expanding its 5G ecosystem with 5G Multi-access Edge Compute trials in collaboration with Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services.
All consumers in Singapore can trial 5G’s ultra-fast speeds and ultra-low latency at Singtel’s 5G experience zones in selected Singtel Shops, UNBOXED and UNBOXED Lite on Orchard Road.
The Singapore regulator IMDA (Infocomm Media Development Authority) recently announced Singtel Mobile Singapore Pte Ltd (Singtel) and the Joint-Venture Consortium (JVCo) formed by StarHub Mobile Pte Ltd (StarHub) and M1 Limited (M1) as the winners of its 5G Call for Proposal (CFP).
Singtel and JVCo will be allocated 100MHz of 3.5GHz spectrum each to deploy nationwide 5G networks. Other mobile operators can access these network services through a wholesale arrangement. IMDA had earlier stated that each lot of spectrum will cost at least 55 million Singapore dollars (roughly US$ 40 million).
Additionally, IMDA will allocate 800MHz of mmWave spectrum each to SingTel, StarHub and M1 to deploy localised high-capacity 5G hotspots. With this, M1, StarHub, Singtel, TPG Telecom and mobile virtual network operators would be able to offer retail 5G services to end users. The frequency was not disclosed but over the last couple of years there have been trials taking place between 26 and 28 GHz.
The winners will roll out 5G Standalone (SA) networks from January 2021, keeping pace with first-mover cities in other countries. The winners will be required to provide coverage for at least half of Singapore by end-2022, scaling up to nationwide coverage by end 2025.
The winners will deploy SA networks that can deliver full-fledged 5G capabilities, such as network slicing, ultra-reliable and low latency communications, and massive machine type communications. The two nationwide 5G networks will also be supplemented by localised mmWave deployments that provide high capacity 5G hotspots. Businesses and consumers will benefit from faster network speeds among other exciting applications.
M1 has been leading in Singapore’s enterprise segment to trial 5G use cases through a range of partnerships. A collaboration with PSA Corporation and IMDA demonstrated the potential use of 5G in a Smart Port for Automated Guided Vehicles (AGV) and remote control of container handling equipment to support maritime operations. M1 has also partnered with Keppel Offshore & Marine (Keppel O&M) to establish reliable ship-to-shore communication for autonomous vessels, and support mission-critical Internet-of-Things (IoT) maritime applications. Other collaborations include M1 partnering with Nanyang Technological University (NTU) to help develop the first 5G cellular vehicle-to-everything (C-V2X) communication, as well as with Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) for remote operations of robots using 5G. Leading up to the 5G network licence award, M1 has also been able to demonstrate 5G technological advancements in the consumer space. At this year’s Chingay Parade, M1 leveraged its 5G SA technology to livestream an aerial footage of the longest dragon dance, one of the key highlights of the parade through the lens of a camera drone. M1 also collaborated with Haidilao’s new flagship restaurant to turn it into a smart restaurant with enhanced customer experience. The 5G network licence award cements M1’s strength in network development and deployment capabilities. M1 was also the first operator in Singapore to offer nationwide 4G service, ultra high-speed fixed broadband, fixed voice and other services on the Next Generation Nationwide Broadband Network (NGNBN).
As a leading wireless service provider for Singaporean consumers, enterprises and government clients, StarHub will encourage many application developers and 3rd parties to leverage the new, low latency, more secure, faster transmission 5G technology and develop new applications and use cases. StarHub believes 5G will play a pivotal and transformative role in supporting the digital needs of the society, accelerating Singapore’s digital economy and delivery of many essential services as well as creating new job opportunities. With its existing wireless network capabilities and expertise, and as the fastest 4G network according to the most recent IMDA IMconnected Report, StarHub will complement its existing wireless capabilities with new 5G technology. StarHub’s 5G services will be deployed via standalone architecture using the 3.5GHz spectrum, as well as non-standalone architecture using the 800 MHz of mmWave spectrum. This dual approach will fast track the rollout of services, so that both retail and enterprise customers can experience the benefits and innovative applications that 5G can enable with its high-speed, low-latency and secure campus networking capabilities. Today, StarHub is broadcasting ‘live’ 5G signals from its headquarters and it is also the first in Singapore to introduce 5G cellular-on-wheels vehicle to showcase the benefits of 5G island-wide. StarHub has been conducting trials and proof-of-concepts with its 5G ecosystem of technology, business, institutes of higher learning and public agency partners, to co-create innovative, highly relevant and sustainable 5G use cases across the six national strategic clusters.
Back in 2016, there were three major Singapore operators— Singtel, StarHub and M1. The cheapest SIM-only plan with 3GB of data cost $20 from Singtel, whilst users on M1’s network had to pay $125 for 13GB. In 2016 the mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) Circles Life entered into the market. Since then, more MVNOs have flooded the scene. MVNOs do not own or operate any network infrastructure and have to lease it from Singtel, M1 or StarHub at a cost. For example MyRepublic and VivoBee use StarHub’s network, while Zero Mobile and Zero 1 are hosted on Singtel. Circles.Life, the first MVNO in Singapore, has a partnership with M1.
Fast forward to 2019, and prices have fallen. That same $20 will buy you 20GB of data on Singtel’s network, with similar deals available from the other operators. However, operating a wireless network hasn’t suddenly got cheaper; in fact, with the deployment of LTE-Advanced technology and new spectrum requiring more equipment and cell sites, capital expenditure has been up for Singtel and M1 since 2015.
This decreasing price pressure has been led by this emergence of mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs), which buy wholesale capacity from the network operators and resell the service to consumers. Through aggressive price points and novel rate plans, MVNOs have been able to target particular niches, and have carved out a small but significant market share – the biggest, Circles.Life, claims a three to five percent market share.
The 3 newest MNVOs that have joined the fray mid-2019 are: redONE, ViViFi and Grid Mobile. Different MVNOs have different market strategies targeting various market segments, such as the lifestyles of various age groups. Circles.Life major selling point was that they offered off-contract data plans. They were more cost-effective than the three big telcos, and able to offer more competitively priced plans than them. Therefore they have become Singapore’s fastest growing MVNO, gaining market share at the MNOs expense and insisting they “gave power back to the consumers”.Circles.Life, MyRepublic and Zero Mobile all target data heavy users who prefer the contract-free route.
While redONE for example gave more value to commuters travelling between Singapore and Malaysia because of the absence of Singapore and Malaysia roaming charges in the data bundles offered by them.
VivoBee, which has partnered StarHub, also offers low-cost plans with flexible overseas top-up schemes catered for the foreign workforce. Grid Mobile appeals to millennials with a points system that rewards consumers for loyalty and helps offset their spending.
So is this fierce competition a positive phenomenon? Many analysts seem to think so. For consumers, competition from MVNOs and new entrants should keep prices low, and Singapore’s networks are well-positioned for a rapid transition to 5G, which will enable even lower prices and larger data plans.
For operators, the short-term pain from MVNOs will help protect their long-term positions, and the experimentation with pricing schemes and data plan features can help hone a more sustainable business into the 5G era and beyond.
Optus is the second largest telecommunications company in Australia. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of SingTel (a company headquartered in Singapore) since 2001.
As of 31 October 2018, Optus’ 4G network population coverage was 97.2% in Australia, with 7,011 sites upgraded to 4G of which over 5,990 have been upgraded to 700 MHz spectrum. The total 4G customer base reached 6.39 million (Including Enterprise customers, Optus’ total number of 4G customers reached 6.48 million) as of 30 September 2018. They believe that all Australians deserve high quality mobile coverage are committed to relentless improvement, especially to the roll-out of 5G.
During this quarter, Optus launched the 50th Federal Government Blackspot. In addition, Optus successfully concluded “live” 5G network trial in Sydney, paving the way for the commercial launch of Fixed Wireless Access services in Canberra and Brisbane in January 2019, and other capital cities by March 2019.
Optus' road to 5G saw it begin switching on its 4.5G network in February last year, followed by the addition of Massive Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (Massive MIMO) and three-cell carrier aggregation to 4G at the end of last year.
According tochief executive officer Allen Lew, Optus has now finished trials at its HQ in Macquarie Park; its 5G Live centre in the Gold Coast is stage two of its 5G plan, as it will allow the telco to gather data on how consumers interact with and react to the low-latency, high-bandwidth capabilities of 5G and the technologies it enables.
Optus is also inviting "young entrepreneurs" to visit the showcase -- which utilises both indoor and outdoor 5G base stations -- and commercialise any ideas they come up with, which will also help Optus to decide who to partner with.
While according to Optus head of Networks Dennis Wong 5G is the final piece of the "industrialisation puzzle" -- due to its characteristics of low latency, high bandwidth, network slicing architecture, and massive machine type communications -- Wong said Optus is well positioned to deliver a 5G network thanks to its holdings in the 3.5GHz spectrum band.
*** To learn more about Fixed Wireless Access, see 3G4G Blog post here.
The Singapore regulator IMDA (Info-communications Media Development Authority) recently presented at ITU-APT 26-28 GHz India 5G spectrum Workshop. This blog contains a summary of the presentation by Mr. Henry Foo, Senior Assistant Director in Policy, Regulation & Competition Development Group, IMDA.
To encourage 5G testing and development in Singapore, IMDA has waived any fees associated with spectrum during the trials. It is also doing co-existence trials with other stakeholders and spectrum in the 3.5GHz and 28GHz bands.
A recent whitepaper from @Keysight points out that the 5G Uplink transmission in 3.5 GHz band might significantly interfere with 4G in the 1.8 GHz band in downlink direction. Maybe bad news, especially in Europe, where these are heavily used. https://t.co/yz3tjuo8kIpic.twitter.com/chCbtbzyOn
Remember that as pointed out in the tweet above, there is a possibility of interference between 4G & 5G. Singapore already has 1800 MHz (1.8 GHz) in use for LTE so trials need to identify the interference between 1.8 & 3.5 GHz.
As with most other countries, its looking at 700 MHz for coverage layer, 3.5 GHz for capacity layer and 26, 28 & 38 GHz for high throughput layer.
The operators in Singapore (M1, Singtel, Starhub) have similar concerns to operators elsewhere. How do you recover the investments in LTE before investing further into 5G? What are the killer use cases for 5G that will be a source for additional new revenue?
5G small cells are foreseen to play a big role in the mmWave spectrum for providing high throughput in low-mobility scenarios. Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) is another technology being trialed. FWA is going to be an interesting use case because Fiber to the home and premises (FTTH/FTTP) is easily available there with speeds upto 10 Gbps.
Back in July, Singtel announced that it will launch by the fourth quarter of this year Singapore’s first 5G pilot network at one-north, the country’s science, business and IT hub along with Ericsson. The pilot network can deliver 5G coverage with enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) speed and low latency communications.
"Singtel and Ericsson are planning drone and autonomous vehicle trials on their 5G pilot network later this year at one-north and other designated areas. Enterprises can use the network to develop new 5G use cases and tap the business potential of 5G."
M1 is working with Huawei & Nokia for 5G. First announcement with Huawei
M1 Limited (M1) and Huawei today announced plans to jointly showcase innovative 5G use cases in Singapore, starting with the live demonstration of 360-view Virtual Reality (VR) content broadcast by end of June this year. The demonstration, using 5G equipment setup at M1’s MiWorld building in Jurong, is Singapore’s first end-to-end 5G live trial using Huawei’s 5G equipment operating at the 28GHz millimetre wave (mmWave) frequency band.
M1 Limited (M1) and Nokia today announced plans to conduct Nokia’s first 5G small cell trial in Southeast Asia. The two companies will also showcase demand-driven 5G use cases in selected vertical industries which require dedicated small cell capacity and very low latency IoT connectivity.
Leveraging on M1’s engineering experience in deploying an extensive 4.5G Heterogeneous Network (HetNet) at traffic hotspots throughout Singapore, this 5G small cell trial marks another important milestone in M1 and Nokia’s joint efforts in staying at the forefront of the latest technology developments. The findings from this live trial will provide valuable practical learnings for the commercial deployment of 5G small cells in a dense cell grid architecture and operating at very high 5G frequency bands.
Starhub upgraded their LTE network to Gigabit LTE (4.5G or LTE-A Pro) back in April. It has announced that it will be switching on limited 5G by the end of the year.
"StarHub and Nokia have signed a multi-year agreement under which Nokia will deploy network upgrades using its advanced radio access, small cells, virtualised core and IP routing technologies as well as its cloud orchestration and signalling, network management, security, IoT, self-organising network and session border controller software."
Other operators from Southeast Asia a keenly watching 5G developments in Singapore to decide their way forward.
