Communications in Singapore
Encyclopedia
The telecommunication
infrastructure of Singapore
spans the entire city-state
. Its development level is high, with close accessibility to the infrastructure from nearly all inhabited parts of the island and for all of the population, with exceptions. As of 1998, there were almost 55 million phone lines in Singapore, close to 47 million of which also served other telecommunication devices like computer
s and facsimile machines. Underwater telephone cables have been laid that lead to Malaysia, the Philippines
and Indonesia
.
As of March 2009, there are three cellular phone operators in Singapore serving more than 6.4 million cellular phones. As for internet
facilities, as of 2009, there are four major internet service provider
s (ISPs) in Singapore. By February 2009, there were more than 4.8 million broadband
users in Singapore. Howevever, due to the small market and possible market collusion, there have been rising concerns that various ISPs' telecommunication infrastructures being highly under-utilised.
Radio
and television
stations are all government-owned entities. All eight television channel
s are owned by MediaCorp
; its only other competitor, SPH Mediaworks
closed its television channel on 1 January 2005. Due to the proximity of Singapore to Malaysia and Indonesia, almost all radios and television sets in Singapore can pick up broadcast signals from both countries. Private ownership of satellite dishes is banned, but most households have access to the StarHub TV and the SingTel IPTV
TV(mio TV) network. As of 1997, there were 1.3 million televisions in Singapore.
All radio stations are operated either by MediaCorp, the SAFRA National Service Association
(SAFRA) or SPH UnionWorks. As of 1997, there were 2.5 million radios in Singapore.
The print media is dominated by Singapore Press Holdings
and MediaCorp
. Singapore Press Holdings publishes flagship newspaper The Straits Times
. Daily newspapers are published in English
, Chinese
, Malay
, and Tamil
.
Telephones - mobile market:
Telephone system:
Excellent domestic facilities; excellent international service
domestic:
NA
international:
Submarine cables to Malaysia (Sabah and Peninsular Malaysia), Indonesia
, and the Philippines
; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat
(1 Indian Ocean and 1 Pacific Ocean), and 1 Inmarsat (Pacific Ocean region)
IDD Country Code: +65
AM 0, FM 19, shortwave 5 (Source:Asiawaves.Net )
Radios:
2.55 million (1997)
Operator:
indicated that 78% of households own computers at home and 7 in 10 households have Internet access (2006). The CIA The World Factbook
reports that Singapore has 2.422 millions Internet users (2005) and 898,762 Internet hosts (2006).
Internet Service Provider
s (ISPs):
8 (1999)
Broadband
Country code (Top level domain): SG
In 1997, commercial trials for Singapore Telecommunications
' (SingTel) ADSL-based "SingTel Magix" service were undertaken in March, before being launched in June. Also in June, Singapore Cable Vision commenced trails for its cable modem
based services, before being commercially deployed in December 1999. Singtel's ADSL service was subsequently rolled out on a nation-wide scale in August 2000.
In January 2001, the Broadband Media Association was formed to promote the broadband industry. By April the same year there were 6 broadband internet providers, with the total number of broadband users exceeding 300,000. Pacific Internet
introduced wireless broadband services in October 2001.
In 2007, Infocomm Development Authority(IDA) of Singapore introduced a programme named "Wireless@SG
". It is part of its Next Generation National Infocomm Infrastructure initiative. Users can enjoy free, both in-door and outdoor seamless wireless broadband access with speeds of up to 1 Mbit/s at with high human traffic. As at June 2007, there are more than 460,000 subscribers and 4,200 hotspots under the Wireless@SG
programme. In the same year, M1 introduced its mobile broadband services.
ADSL providers in Singapore include:
Cable
broadband providers:
Optical Fiber
broadband providers:
Wireless (mobile) broadband providers:
Note:
Wireless@SG operators (Up to 1 Mbit/s):
Telecommunication
Telecommunication is the transmission of information over significant distances to communicate. In earlier times, telecommunications involved the use of visual signals, such as beacons, smoke signals, semaphore telegraphs, signal flags, and optical heliographs, or audio messages via coded...
infrastructure of Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
spans the entire city-state
City-state
A city-state is an independent or autonomous entity whose territory consists of a city which is not administered as a part of another local government.-Historical city-states:...
. Its development level is high, with close accessibility to the infrastructure from nearly all inhabited parts of the island and for all of the population, with exceptions. As of 1998, there were almost 55 million phone lines in Singapore, close to 47 million of which also served other telecommunication devices like computer
Computer
A computer is a programmable machine designed to sequentially and automatically carry out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations. The particular sequence of operations can be changed readily, allowing the computer to solve more than one kind of problem...
s and facsimile machines. Underwater telephone cables have been laid that lead to Malaysia, the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
and Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
.
As of March 2009, there are three cellular phone operators in Singapore serving more than 6.4 million cellular phones. As for internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
facilities, as of 2009, there are four major internet service provider
Internet service provider
An Internet service provider is a company that provides access to the Internet. Access ISPs directly connect customers to the Internet using copper wires, wireless or fiber-optic connections. Hosting ISPs lease server space for smaller businesses and host other people servers...
s (ISPs) in Singapore. By February 2009, there were more than 4.8 million broadband
Broadband
The term broadband refers to a telecommunications signal or device of greater bandwidth, in some sense, than another standard or usual signal or device . Different criteria for "broad" have been applied in different contexts and at different times...
users in Singapore. Howevever, due to the small market and possible market collusion, there have been rising concerns that various ISPs' telecommunication infrastructures being highly under-utilised.
Radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
and television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
stations are all government-owned entities. All eight television channel
Television channel
A television channel is a physical or virtual channel over which a television station or television network is distributed. For example, in North America, "channel 2" refers to the broadcast or cable band of 54 to 60 MHz, with carrier frequencies of 55.25 MHz for NTSC analog video and...
s are owned by MediaCorp
MediaCorp
Media Corporation of Singapore, better known as MediaCorp, is a group of commercial media companies in Singapore, with business interests in television and radio broadcasting, interactive media, and, to a lesser extent, print publishing and film-making....
; its only other competitor, SPH Mediaworks
SPH MediaWorks
SPH MediaWorks Ltd was an ephemeral free-to-air terrestrial television broadcaster in Singapore. In 6 May 2001, SPH MediaWorks brought 2 alternative free-to-air terrestrial television channels to the audience in Singapore, operating SPH MediaWorks Channel U and SPH MediaWorks Channel i.A...
closed its television channel on 1 January 2005. Due to the proximity of Singapore to Malaysia and Indonesia, almost all radios and television sets in Singapore can pick up broadcast signals from both countries. Private ownership of satellite dishes is banned, but most households have access to the StarHub TV and the SingTel IPTV
IPTV
Internet Protocol television is a system through which television services are delivered using the Internet protocol suite over a packet-switched network such as the Internet, instead of being delivered through traditional terrestrial, satellite signal, and cable television formats.IPTV services...
TV(mio TV) network. As of 1997, there were 1.3 million televisions in Singapore.
All radio stations are operated either by MediaCorp, the SAFRA National Service Association
SAFRA National Service Association
The SAFRA National Service Association is an organisation in Singapore.First known as the Singapore Armed Forces Reservists Association , the organisation was inaugurated on 2 July 1972 by Dr Goh Keng Swee. From a small club house in 1972 with 1,904 members when started...
(SAFRA) or SPH UnionWorks. As of 1997, there were 2.5 million radios in Singapore.
The print media is dominated by Singapore Press Holdings
Singapore Press Holdings
Singapore Press Holdings Limited is a media organisation in Singapore with businesses in print, Internet and new media, television and radio, outdoor media, and property. SPH has over 4,000 employees, including a team of approximately 1,000 journalists, including correspondents operating around...
and MediaCorp
MediaCorp
Media Corporation of Singapore, better known as MediaCorp, is a group of commercial media companies in Singapore, with business interests in television and radio broadcasting, interactive media, and, to a lesser extent, print publishing and film-making....
. Singapore Press Holdings publishes flagship newspaper The Straits Times
The Straits Times
The Straits Times is an English language daily broadsheet newspaper based in Singapore currently owned by Singapore Press Holdings . It is the country's highest-selling paper, with a current daily circulation of nearly 400,000...
. Daily newspapers are published in English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, Chinese
Chinese language
The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
, Malay
Malay language
Malay is a major language of the Austronesian family. It is the official language of Malaysia , Indonesia , Brunei and Singapore...
, and Tamil
Tamil language
Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...
.
Telephones
Telephones - fixed line:- Total Fixed Line Subscriptions: 1,843,000 (March 2009)
- Fixed Line Household Penetration: 93.0%
Telephones - mobile market:
- Total Mobile Subscriptions (2G+3G+3.5G): 6,414,800 (March 2009)
- Mobile Penetration: 132.6%
- Operators: 3 (2009)
- SingTel
- M1
- StarHubStarHubStarHub Limited is a full-fledged telecommunications company providing a full range of services over mobile, internet and fixed platforms in Singapore...
Telephone system:
Excellent domestic facilities; excellent international service
domestic:
NA
international:
Submarine cables to Malaysia (Sabah and Peninsular Malaysia), Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
, and the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat
Intelsat
Intelsat, Ltd. is a communications satellite services provider.Originally formed as International Telecommunications Satellite Organization , it was—from 1964 to 2001—an intergovernmental consortium owning and managing a constellation of communications satellites providing international broadcast...
(1 Indian Ocean and 1 Pacific Ocean), and 1 Inmarsat (Pacific Ocean region)
IDD Country Code: +65
Radio
Radio broadcast stations (as of March 2006):AM 0, FM 19, shortwave 5 (Source:Asiawaves.Net )
Radios:
2.55 million (1997)
Television
Television broadcast stations (as of January 2010):- 8 free-to-air(7 analogue, 1 high-definition, 3 digital simulcast)
Operator:
- MediaCorpMediaCorpMedia Corporation of Singapore, better known as MediaCorp, is a group of commercial media companies in Singapore, with business interests in television and radio broadcasting, interactive media, and, to a lesser extent, print publishing and film-making....
Internet
Singapore has a large number of computer users and most households have computers and Internet access. A survey conducted by Infocomm Development Authority of SingaporeInfocomm Development Authority of Singapore
The Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore is a statutory board of the Singapore Government, under the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts .-History:...
indicated that 78% of households own computers at home and 7 in 10 households have Internet access (2006). The CIA The World Factbook
The World Factbook
The World Factbook is a reference resource produced by the Central Intelligence Agency of the United States with almanac-style information about the countries of the world. The official paper copy version is available from the National Technical Information Service and the Government Printing Office...
reports that Singapore has 2.422 millions Internet users (2005) and 898,762 Internet hosts (2006).
Internet Service Provider
Internet service provider
An Internet service provider is a company that provides access to the Internet. Access ISPs directly connect customers to the Internet using copper wires, wireless or fiber-optic connections. Hosting ISPs lease server space for smaller businesses and host other people servers...
s (ISPs):
8 (1999)
Broadband
- Subscribers: 4,883,700 (79.5% wireless, 10.3% xDSL, 10.1% cable modem, 0.1% others) as of February 2009
Country code (Top level domain): SG
Internet in Singapore
Singapore as a small densely populated island nation is the pioneer, and continues to be one of the few countries in the World in which broadband internet access is readily available to just about any would-be user anywhere in the country, with connectivity over 99%. In a government-led initiative to connect the island in a high-speed broadband network using various mediums such as fibre, DSL and cable, the Singapore ONE project was formally announced in June 1996, and commercially launched in June 1998. By December 1998, Singapore ONE is available nationwide with the completion of the national fibre optics network.In 1997, commercial trials for Singapore Telecommunications
Singapore Telecommunications
Singapore Telecommunications Limited , commonly abbreviated as SingTel, is a Singaporean telecommunications company, with a combined mobile subscriber base of 416 million customers from its own operations and regional associates in 25 countries at end of June 2011 increased by 19 percent from a...
' (SingTel) ADSL-based "SingTel Magix" service were undertaken in March, before being launched in June. Also in June, Singapore Cable Vision commenced trails for its cable modem
Cable modem
A cable modem is a type of network bridge and modem that provides bi-directional data communication via radio frequency channels on a HFC and RFoG infrastructure. Cable modems are primarily used to deliver broadband Internet access in the form of cable Internet, taking advantage of the high...
based services, before being commercially deployed in December 1999. Singtel's ADSL service was subsequently rolled out on a nation-wide scale in August 2000.
In January 2001, the Broadband Media Association was formed to promote the broadband industry. By April the same year there were 6 broadband internet providers, with the total number of broadband users exceeding 300,000. Pacific Internet
Pacific Internet
Pacific Internet was headquartered in Singapore and was the largest telco-independent Internet Communications Service Provider in the Asia Pacific region with direct presence in Singapore, Hong Kong, Philippines, Australia, India, Thailand and Malaysia...
introduced wireless broadband services in October 2001.
In 2007, Infocomm Development Authority(IDA) of Singapore introduced a programme named "Wireless@SG
Wireless@SG
Wireless@SG is a wireless broadband programme developed by the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore as part of its Next Generation National Infocomm Infrastructure initiative, being part of the nation's 10-year masterplan called Intelligent Nation 2015 .It will be run and developed in the...
". It is part of its Next Generation National Infocomm Infrastructure initiative. Users can enjoy free, both in-door and outdoor seamless wireless broadband access with speeds of up to 1 Mbit/s at with high human traffic. As at June 2007, there are more than 460,000 subscribers and 4,200 hotspots under the Wireless@SG
Wireless@SG
Wireless@SG is a wireless broadband programme developed by the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore as part of its Next Generation National Infocomm Infrastructure initiative, being part of the nation's 10-year masterplan called Intelligent Nation 2015 .It will be run and developed in the...
programme. In the same year, M1 introduced its mobile broadband services.
ADSL providers in Singapore include:
- SingNetSingNetSingNet is a subsidiary internet service provider branch of Singapore Telecommunications. It is one of four commercial internet system providers in Singapore .-Services:*Consumer Dial-up services...
(*Plans: 6 Mbit/s, 10 Mbit/s, 15 Mbit/s) - M1 (*Plans: 5 Mbit/s, 8 Mbit/s, 15 Mbit/s)
- PacnetPacnetPacnet is a global telecommunications service provider formed from the operational merger of Asia Netcom and Pacific Internet on 8 January 2008...
(*Plans: 512 kbit/s, 1.5 Mbit/s(On-Demand))
Cable
Cable modem
A cable modem is a type of network bridge and modem that provides bi-directional data communication via radio frequency channels on a HFC and RFoG infrastructure. Cable modems are primarily used to deliver broadband Internet access in the form of cable Internet, taking advantage of the high...
broadband providers:
- StarHubStarHubStarHub Limited is a full-fledged telecommunications company providing a full range of services over mobile, internet and fixed platforms in Singapore...
(*Plans: 3 Mbit/s, 6 Mbit/s, 16 Mbit/s, 30 Mbit/s, 100 Mbit/s) - M1 (*Plans: 15 Mbit/s, 30 Mbit/s, 100 Mbit/s)
- PacnetPacnetPacnet is a global telecommunications service provider formed from the operational merger of Asia Netcom and Pacific Internet on 8 January 2008...
(*,**,***Plans: 8 Mbit/s, 12 Mbit/s, 30 Mbit/s)
Optical Fiber
Optical fiber
An optical fiber is a flexible, transparent fiber made of a pure glass not much wider than a human hair. It functions as a waveguide, or "light pipe", to transmit light between the two ends of the fiber. The field of applied science and engineering concerned with the design and application of...
broadband providers:
- OpenNet (Passive Infrastructure Company ; NetCo ; Wholesale)
- M1 (*Plans: 25 Mbit/s, 50 Mbit/s, 100 Mbit/s, 1000 Mbit/s)
- Nucleus Connect (Active Infrastructure Company ; OpCo ; Wholesale)
- Retail Service Providers ... TBA. ( RSP ; Retail sale)
Wireless (mobile) broadband providers:
- M1 (*Plans: 1 Mbit/s, 2 Mbit/s, 4 Mbit/s, 7.2 Mbit/s, 21 Mbit/s)
- StarHubStarHubStarHub Limited is a full-fledged telecommunications company providing a full range of services over mobile, internet and fixed platforms in Singapore...
(*,**Plans: 1.2 Mbit/s, 2 Mbit/s, 7.2 Mbit/s, 21 Mbit/s) - SingTel (**Plans: 1 Mbit/s, 1.5 Mbit/s(Only for Youth Plan) 2 Mbit/s, 4 Mbit/s, 7.2 Mbit/s, 14.4 Mbit/s, 21 Mbit/s)
Note:
- *Plans refers "unlimited" broadband access plans
- ** Plans refers to "volume based" broadband access plans
- *** Plans refers to "time-based" broadband access plans
Wireless@SG operators (Up to 1 Mbit/s):
- iCell
- M1
- SingTel
- StarHubStarHubStarHub Limited is a full-fledged telecommunications company providing a full range of services over mobile, internet and fixed platforms in Singapore...
Others
- Terry Johal, "Controlling the Internet: The use of legislation and its effectiveness in Singapore (pdf file)", Proceedings, 15th Biennial Conference of the Asian Studies Association of Australia, Canberra, 2004.
External links
- Ministry Of Information, Communications And The Arts, Singapore
- Media Development Authority (MDA), Singapore
- Infocomm Development Authority (IDA), Singapore
- IDA, Singapore Infocomm Statistics at a Glance, Singapore
- Wireless@SG, Singapore
- Press in Singapore
- Singapore Wireless Guide