 | Issue: | Asia-Pacific II 2008 |
| Article no.: | 1 | |
| Topic: | Singapore’s digital future | |
| Author: | Dr Lee Boon Yang | |
| Title: | Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts | |
| Organisation: | Republic of Singapore | |
| PDF size: | 264KB |
About author
Dr Lee Boon Yang is the Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts of the Republic of Singapore. Dr Lee’s political career in Singapore spans almost 25 years since he first stood in the General Elections. Dr Lee has held various political posts, including the post of Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Communications and Information, Ministry of Finance and Ministry for Home Affairs. Dr Lee served as Minister of State in the Ministry of Trade and Industry, followed by Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of National Development, and later as Senior Minister of State for National Development, Home Affairs and Defence. In 1991, Dr Lee was appointed Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office. He subsequently served as Minister for Defence and Minister for Manpower, before his current appointment. Dr Lee Boon Yang graduated as a veterinarian (B.V.Sc Hon 2A) from the University of Queensland, Australia.
Article abstract
Singapore’s broadband infrastructure is a powerful enabler for economic growth and social development. Singapore has more than 7,000 public hotspots – over 100 hotspots per square kilometre and about 80 per cent of Singaporean homes have broadband service. Singapore’s ten-year ICT master plan calls for a next-generation network providing seamless high-speed broadband throughout Singapore. This next-generation network will provide a national competitive advantage and enable people to harness the full potential of infocomm technologies for best-in-the-world living experiences.
Full Article
Infocomm infrastructure Singapore’s infocomm infrastructure is a powerful enabler for economic growth and social development. Ten years ago, we invested in our first broadband infrastructure. This network has provided the high-speed connectivity for the development of new products and services to be delivered electronically to homes and businesses. This has allowed the government, businesses and consumers to reap the benefits from digital and online technologies. Today, Singaporeans embrace broadband connectivity, both wired and wireless, for myriad activities, such as e-mailing, banking, online gaming, chatting online with loved ones overseas, and even paying their taxes. Almost 80 per cent of Singaporean homes are enjoying broadband service. Last year alone, we saw a jump of nearly 16 percentage points in home broadband adoption. More than just broadband adoption, we are also seeing greater take up of higher-speed Internet access plans. As more infocomm services and transactions are delivered over broadband, we expect this demand for speed to grow significantly. We are now moving into the next phase of digital technologies. In this phase, connectivity, speed and mobility will be key drivers of success in a globalised digital economy. Under Singapore’s ten year ICT master plan, iN2015, we are building a Next Generation National Infocomm Infrastructure (Next Gen NII) that will provide seamless and ubiquitous broadband communications for Singaporeans throughout the island. The Next Gen NII will include a pervasive wireless network and an ultra high-speed wired network for the country. The wireless network, called Wireless@SG, launched its services in December 2006. Wireless@SG extends Wi-Fi broadband access beyond the homes, schools and offices, to public places. We now have more than 7,000 public hotspots across the island, or over 100 hotspots per square kilometre, covering high human traffic areas such as at the Changi International Airport, Central Business District, downtown shopping belts and residential town centres. The wired network, called the Next Generation National Broadband Network, or Next Gen NBN for short, will provide pervasive, ultra-high-speed broadband connectivity to homes, business premises, schools and other institutions. The Next Gen NBN will offer symmetric broadband access with speeds of up to one Gigabit per second and beyond. The Next Gen NBN is expected to be available nationwide by 2015, with deployment expected to start from next year (2009). From as early as 2010, we expect to see new and exciting Next Gen Services, such as high-definition video conferencing, telemedicine, grid computing-on-demand, security and immersive learning applications. Open access with Next Gen NBN The Next Gen NBN project is more than just an infrastructure project. We envisage that it will redefine the playing field for the rapidly converging telecommunications, Internet and media sectors. This project is anchored on ‘effective open access’. This means operators will be required to provide equivalence of input for any downstream service provider. We envision that the Next Gen NBN will comprise three key conceptual industry layers. Undergirding the Next Gen NBN is the Network Company (NetCo), which will be responsible for designing, building and operating the passive infrastructure layer. Leveraging the Next Gen NBN NetCo’s passive infrastructure would be operating companies – ‘OpCo’- that are responsible for the design, installation and operation of the active infrastructure to provide wholesale broadband connectivity to other operating companies and downstream operators, in particular, Retail Service Providers (RSPs). These RSPs will in turn compete to provide innovative services to end-users. To benefit fully from the economic opportunities of this pervasive and ultra-high speed infrastructure, it is critical that the Next Gen NBN ensures effective open access to the infrastructure by downstream operators. To achieve this, the government has decided to impose separation between the different layers of the Next Gen NBN. The Next Gen NBN NetCo will therefore be required to be structurally separated from downstream operators. Similarly, the Next Gen NBN OpCo will have to be operationally separated from the downstream RSPs and to treat them equally, on a non-discriminatory basis. Next-generation services The quantum leap in the broadband access speeds provided by the Next Gen NBN will set the stage for enhanced competition in the broadband sector. Our objective is a flowering of next-generation services to inspire new ways for Singaporeans to work, live, play and learn. For instance, business users will benefit from ready access to a robust and pervasive network that can support data and bandwidth-intensive transactions. Small and medium enterprises can also benefit from high-speed broadband to tap into grid computing applications and data storage facilities at competitive rates. Both in core traditional economic sectors like finance and manufacturing as well as in high-tech industries such as biomedical sciences, digital media and entertainment, an ultra-high-speed infrastructure will catalyse transformations and spur innovation and greater growth. In education, both adults and students will be able to access multimedia information, high-definition video-conferencing and new learning resources anywhere, beyond classrooms and lecture halls. For healthcare, we foresee a more personalised delivery system where personal health records will be available online. This will allow healthcare providers to tailor medical regimes to suit each patient’s conditions, needs and even preferences. Towards iN2015 As the world progresses towards globalised and networked economies, a pervasive and future-ready infocomm infrastructure will be a critical source of national competitive advantage and enable people to harness the full potential of infocomm technologies for best-in-the-world living experiences. To this end, the Next Gen NII will lay the path for Singapore’s journey towards our vision of being an Intelligent Nation, a global city, powered by infocomm.
