2017 Singapore - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Digital Media - Statistics and Analyses

Fibre broadband adoption gains momentum in Singapore

Singapore has developed the status of a world leader in telecommunications through the building of a high quality and extremely progressive regulatory environment for the local telecommunications sector that has, in turn, generated a highly competitive market.

Growth in number of fixed lines in Singapore has remained relatively stable over the period from 2012 to 2017. Growth in telecom services in Singapore is now dominated by the mobile segment. Penetration of fixed lines is expected to remain stable or drop slightly, in the period from 2018 to 2020.

In its efforts to maintain Singapore’s status as an ICT market leader, the government launched its plan for a nationwide fibre-based broadband network: the Next Generation Broadband Network (NGNBN). The roll out and deployment of this national network has effectively been completed and there is rapid take-up of fibre-based services.

Singapore has been working to shape itself into what it says will be the world’s first ‘Smart Nation’ where data and analytics play a critical role in its society and economy. Smart Nation is Singapore’s vision to tap into the potential of technology to improve the lives of citizens and create greater opportunities for business.

Singapore’s mobile market has displayed slow growth over the last few years due to a highly mature market with penetration reaching 149% by 2017. However the market over the next five years to 2022 is unlikely to grow much further.

The ‘mix’ of mobile services is rapidly changing, with 2G having almost disappeared, 3G numbers declining and Long Term Evolution (LTE) / 4G service offerings continuing to expand rapidly.

Competition is now heating up in Singapore’s mobile market with a fourth provider Australian telco TPG Telecom set to launch services shortly. TPG Telecom has recently won the right to become the city-state’s fourth mobile network operator (MNO), defeating MyRepublic, another operator that has been trying to enter the local market over the past few years. This is likely to see increased pressure on SingTel, Starhub and M1, potentially triggering another price war which is likely to lower ARPUs over the next two years to 2019.

The launch of third generation (4G) services by all three operators and the subsequent development of this platform has been a transformational move for Singapore’s mobile market and has seen the adoption of new generation services steadily increase. The eventual launch of 5G services will further this transformation.

Singapore boasts an elaborate inter network, with around 100% of internet households having broadband access. The government has continued to maintain a strong commitment to making broadband access widely available to the population and at the same time lifting the overall quality of the access.

Wireless broadband has seen strong growth over the past few years driven by the migration to the NGNBN. By 2018 wireless broadband penetration is predicted to reach over 200%.

Optical fibre broadband also has seen strong growth as customers migrate to the NGNBN’s optical fibre network. xDSL on the other hand has seen a decrease in usage and cable modem broadband also has been experiencing declining subscriber numbers.

Slow growth in the fixed broadband market is predicted over the next five years in a mature and saturated market. Market penetration is predicted to increase moderately by 2022.

Key developments:

• Singapore has officially launched the new Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA).
• Data and analytics start to play a critical role in Singapore’s Smart Nation initiative.
• Long Term Evolution (LTE) / 4G service offerings continue to expand rapidly.
• Singtel successfully tested fifth-generation mobile technology.
• The IMDA spearheading joint-industry trials of Light Fidelity (Li-Fi) technology.
• M1 announced plans to deploy the city-state’s first commercial Heterogeneous Network (HetNet).
• Slow growth is predicted in the fixed broadband market to 2022 years in a mature and saturated market.
• Both wireless broadband and fibre broadband will continue to be the fastest growing broadband segments.
• Data and analytics are playing a critical role in Singapore’s Smart Nation initiative.

Key companies mentioned in this report:

SingTel; StarHub, MobileOne (M1), TPG (Telecom), MyRepublic