SingTel launches commercial LTE mobile broadband service

Singapore, 20 December 2011 – Singapore Telecommunications Limited (SingTel) today announced the commercial launch of its Long Term Evolution (LTE) mobile broadband service. Named Broadband on Mobile Prestige 75, it is the first LTE service in Singapore to be available to both consumer and business customers.

The service offers theoretical download speeds of up to 75Mbps and typical download speeds between 3.4Mbps and 12Mbps. It provides mobile Internet access that is more than three times faster than existing 3G-based services, with one-fifth of the network latency.

Mr Yuen Kuan Moon, SingTel’s Executive Vice President of Digital Consumer, said: “With the commercial launch of LTE, we usher in a new era of mobile services. Our LTE service will deliver consistent speeds and performance to allow customers to go beyond web surfing and enjoy a wider range of bandwidth-intensive multimedia content on the move like never before. In addition, SingTel is more than just a provider of high-speed connectivity. We offer a range of applications such as cloud storage, video conferencing, music and e-books that maximises the potential of LTE.”

At launch, the service provides outdoor coverage in the central financial district and other areas that experience high data usage such as: Shenton Way, Orchard, City Hall, Marina Bay, River Valley, Tanglin, Newton, Novena, Kallang, Rochor, Outram, Tanjong Pagar, Jurong West, Boon Lay, Bukit Panjang, Bedok and Changi. (Please refer to Annex 1 for a map.) In-building coverage is available in major shopping malls such as Ngee Ann City, Plaza Singapura, Ang Mo Kio Hub, Tampines Mall, West Mall, Parkway Parade and Jurong IMM. Office buildings such as Republic Plaza and Temasek Tower are also covered. The service falls back to SingTel’s 3G-based Premium 21 service when users roam outside the LTE coverage area.

Mr Yuen said that SingTel is progressively expanding its network, which is expected to be able to provide LTE coverage for 80 per cent of mobile data users by the end of 2012.

“The way we dimension the network is crucial in ensuring a high-quality and consistent experience for our customers. This is a premium network service at an affordable price. In addition to offering tremendous value for money, our price plans and data bundles play an important role in encouraging fair usage of network capacity and resources,” he said.

In June, SingTel broke new ground by being the first in Singapore to publish the actual speeds of its 3G services.

“Similarly with LTE, we want our customers to know exactly what speeds they are getting so that they can make better informed choices,” Mr Yuen said.

Broadband on Mobile Prestige 75 will initially be available for USB dongle modems only. It will be enhanced to support LTE-enabled smartphones and tablets when they become more readily available in the market. Existing 21Mbps 3G Broadband on Mobile Premium 21 customers can upgrade to LTE with a top-up of $10 per month.