Over the years, Singapore has put in place an advanced and reliable infocomm infrastructure that has met the needs and demands of our economy and society. According to the
2010 Infocomm Usage by Households and Individuals Survey
, the proportion of resident households with Internet and broadband access at home reached 82%. These achievements were possible, in part, due to a robust and stable National Infocomm Infrastructure (NII).
The development of the NII started as a key initiative of the IT 2000 Masterplan, with the building of a high-speed nationwide broadband network as a major milestone in its development. Singapore ONE was formally announced as the island-wide broadband initiative in 1996, and it jumpstarted the broadband industry and formed the platform over which all local Internet traffic is exchanged today. Singapore ONE also led to the creation of many broadband companies and applications in schools and businesses.
Singapore has also grown to be one of the major global telecommunications hubs in the region and is well positioned as a hub for international capacity. Over the last few years, Singapore has also grown to be a transcable hub where regional submarine cable systems and international cable systems interconnect.
As Singapore progresses into a world of globalised and networked economies where countries have to both compete and collaborate at the same time, the presence of a good infocomm infrastructure will be crucial. It will not only support the needs of the users and to allow them to thrive in this new global environment, it will also enhance Singapore's global competitiveness. We must continue to plan ahead beyond present needs, and keep pace with rapid technological changes.
Therefore, as part of the iN2015 Masterplan, Singapore is looking into the deployment of a seamless, trusted and intelligent infocomm infrastructure that will be realised by 2015, as a critical enabler for the vertical sector economies of Singapore to gain a competitive edge in the global market. Such an infrastructure will also contribute to the overall competitiveness of the infocomm sector as it creates wider and more intelligent highways and ports for the flow of digital goods. It will also empower every individual and business in Singapore with the opportunity to engage in networked, infocomm-enabled services.
Singapore will undertake bold steps in the next five years to make strategic investments to deploy the Next Generation National Infocomm Infrastructure (Next Gen NII). This comprises a nationwide ultra high speed fibre access infrastructure called the Next Gen Nationwide Broadband Network (Next Gen NBN) and a complementary pervasive wireless network, including the Wireless@SG Wi-Fi service which will be free until 31 March 2013. The Next Gen NII will support new industries like the digital media and the biomedical sciences industry as next engines of growth for Singapore's economy.
The NGNII will also be instrumental in enabling another Next Gen service - Grid Computing. NGNII's ultra-highspeed, any time and anywhere connectivity would greatly boost the adoption of Grid Computing here. In recent years, Grid Computing has already increasingly been adopted across many industry sectors such as finance and banking, interactive and digital media, manufacturing and healthcare and life sciences – all key sectors of interest for Singapore. There is thus a need to accelerate the development of Grid Computing for the business and commercial sector. To complement the rollout of the NGNII and the National Grid, the IDA will also catalyse the development of Grid Service Providers (GSPs) that provide grid enabled software, compute and storage services.
The National Grid will give rise to new uses that are computationally and data intensive in nature, enabling applications that are previously difficult to undertake. For example, animation rendering using GSPs will require high bandwidth network connectivity to transmit the huge volume of rendered images. Access to the compute and data grid will be possible via broadband connections especially for the home and SME market. Therefore, it is anticipated that the adoption of GSP services will lead to a corresponding increase in broadband.
