In 2007, the foundations were laid for a “quantum leap” in infrastructure that would enable Singapore to meet the connectivity needs of the future. Major developments took place on two fronts – the wired and wireless components of the Next Generation National Information Infrastructure (Next Gen NII).

Mr Leong: True Number Portability should bring greater competition in 2008.

The Next Generation National Broadband Network (Next Gen NBN) will put in place a wired infrastructure supporting speeds of up to 1 Gbps or more. For the wireless NBN, IDA’s focus is different, said Mr Leong Keng Thai, Deputy Chief Executive/Director-General Telecoms, Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA). “We want to create an environment in which anyone with a Wi-Fi-capable device will be able to go to a public area and access the Internet. We want to empower users, and we are collaborating with the private sector to provide island-wide coverage.”

Infrastructure rollout

The rollout of /Collaboration-and-Initiatives/Initiatives/Store/Wireless-SG-Programme.aspx was without doubt the most significant infocomm infrastructure development in Singapore in 2007, with more than 620,000 users already signed up for free 512 Kbps wireless Internet access at more than 6,200 hotspots across Singapore (as at November 2007). Wi-Fi access is provided by iCELL, QMax and SingTel and is available to anyone with a Wi-Fi-enabled laptop or PDA.

At the recent W2i Wireless Communities Best Practices Awards held in Washington, DC, Wireless@SG won the 2007 award in the category of Economic Development. W2i (the Wireless Internet Institute) is an independent forum bringing together stakeholders around the world to accelerate the adoption of wireless Internet in support of social and economic development and better-managed cities, communities and regions. The Awards pay tribute to local governments and supporting organisations implementing broadband-wireless solutions for cities, countries and regions.

Sungei Buloh Nature Park is one of over 6,200 Wireless@SG hotspots.

In 2008, coverage is expected to improve even further as the three operators increase their footprint. For instance, Wireless@SG is already available now at Changi Airport. IDA is also working with operators to add new applications and services. In the coming year, password protection, anti-phishing tools and anti-keylogging applications are expected to be rolled out to subscribers, said Mr Leong. “Long-term, as the technology evolves, we envisage a pervasive network with higher performance as new technologies emerge,” he added.

Elsewhere in the wireless space, the IDA is keeping an eye on developments in the field of Ultra-WideBand (UWB) communications. UWB technology allows low-powered devices to transfer data at very high speeds of up to 480 Mbps over very short distances. In a move aimed at facilitating UWB adoption, IDA announced a proposed regulatory framework in September 2007, under which devices that comply with IDA’s technical specifications and emission limits may be exempted from licensing, on a case-by-case basis.

The year 2007 was also significant for wired infrastructure with the launch of the Government’s Request-For-Proposal (RFP) for Singapore’s Next Generation NBN ( Next Gen NBN ). The RFP calls for interested vendors to submit a bid to design, build and operate the passive infrastructure layer of the Next Gen NBN. The Next Gen NBN is expected to be available nation-wide in 2015 and will support services such as high-definition video conferencing, telemedicine, Grid Computing-on-Demand, security and immersive learning applications.

Dr Lee: Interest in grid computing and its business advantages increased in 2007.

Grid Computing-on-Demand itself edged closer to reality. In November, the IDA issued a Call for Collaboration to form a consortium to provide Grid and related infocomm resources, also on a pay-per-use basis. According to Dr Lee Hing Yan, the programme director of the National Grid Office, interest in grid computing and its business advantages increased in 2007 as Grid Services Providers (GSPs) became available. There were also more instances of users developing proofs of concept and prototypes of enterprise grids.

The National Library Board (NLB), for example, is tapping on the National Grid Pilot Platform for its Web Archive Singapore initiative to capture “snapshots” of some 70,000 Singapore-registered websites that are of historical, heritage and informational value. “By tapping on the Grid’s immense computing and processing resources to index and archive these .sg sites, we are able to increase the rate of web crawling by as much as eight times,” said Mr Raju BLN, Director of Digital Library Services at the NLB.

A growing number of local companies have also begun to move to the software-as-a-service model, said Dr Lee, who expects Grid Services Provisioning to be rolled out within 2008, as part of the current Call-for-Collaboration for GSPs to be developed in Singapore. Industry and business reaction to the CFC has been positive.

Policy Developments

Meanwhile, the 'soft' aspects of infrastructure – policy and regulatory frameworks – have been playing an equally important role in building the foundation for a vibrant infocomm scene in Singapore.

Of immediate interest to consumers and businesses would be the announcement in October 2007 that SGNIC, the national registry for Internet domain names, would allow pure numeric domain names. Companies and businesses would now be allowed to register domains such as 1234.sg.

Another policy move this year was the issuing of the Code of Practice for companies providing premium rate services over the public telecoms network. This covers companies providing services and products such as mobile phone wallpapers, ringtones and news alerts.

The Code of Practice, which took effect from 16 December 2007, aims to promote responsible business practices and give firms more certainty on how they should operate. Consumers will also have greater peace of mind and confidence when purchasing chargeable premium rate services such as mobile phone wallpapers, ringtones and news alerts, said IDA.

With the new Code, premium rate service providers will have to indicate the cost of all chargeable SMSes sent, within the message itself. They will also need to send non-chargeable messages to consumers to confirm their service subscriptions, and follow-up with regular reminders on charges.

2007 also saw the full liberalisation of Singapore’s postal sector, ending Singapore Post’s 15-year monopoly of the Basic Mail Services market which includes the collection and delivery of letters and postcards, within, into and out of Singapore. With this liberalisation, savings of between S$8 million and S$25 million a year are expected, especially for businesses which account for almost 95 per cent of Singapore's total domestic mail.

Moving on to 2008, the competitive telecoms market will further hot up with the availability of True Number Portability. Singapore is expected to have the solution in place by the second quarter of 2008, with Syniverse Technologies appointed as the Centralised Database Administrator for all numbers.

This is a significant milestone in the development of number portability solutions here. As early as April 1997, Singapore became the first country in the world to offer mobile number portability. Fixed Number Portability was introduced in 2000 and over the years, this has been steadily enhanced. According to Mr Leong, “Once True Number Portability kicks off, Singapore's telecoms market should expect to see even greater competition among the mobile and the fixed line operators. The Centralised Database will also encourage new players and new business possibilities, developing even greater usability for our phone service. Consumers will be rewarded with greater choice and flexibility in mobile and fixed line services.”

Making strides in security

In 2007, several key initiatives under Singapore’s Infocomm Security Masterplan were successfully launched. IDA introduced an “Infocomm Security Health Scorecard” that assesses the state of info-security health of government agencies in areas such as policies, standards, the security knowledge of public officers, as well as physical and environmental security. The scorecard is aimed at helping government agencies to improve their info-security strategies and processes.

In March, the Cyber-WatchCentre began operations. The centre monitors cyber threats to critical government infrastructures round-the-clock in real-time and is one of the first in Asia. The centre will allow government agencies to better anticipate cyber attacks and respond faster to these threats.

A new five-year Infocomm Security Masterplan will also be introduced next year to enhance the resilience and availability of national infocomm infrastructures and services, and continue to secure the infocomm environment against cyber threats. The new infocomm security roadmap will build on existing efforts to collaborate internationally, and enhance the exchange of knowledge and regular communications between governments on cyber threat trends and the protection of critical infrastructure.

The new roadmap will also address security issues surrounding the NG NII and help provide a secure and trusted environment for the pervasive adoption of online services such as those in the area of banking, healthcare and education.

Outlining the new security roadmap, Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, the Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports and Second Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts said, “We cannot afford to be complacent, especially with new and dangerous threats evolving and growing at such an alarming rate. Instead of simply taking one step forward, we need to be many steps ahead in our efforts to combat cyber threats.”