[CAnet - news] Singapore: National Broadband Network with 1 Gb connections

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 [Thanks to Dirk van der Woude for this pointer. Some excerpts -- BSA]

The Next Generation National Infocomm Infrastructure or Next Gen NII, is
Singapore's new digital super-highway for super-connectivity.  

Next Gen NII helps entrench Singapore's Infocomm leadership, ahead of Asian
competitors.  Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and some cities in China (Beijing,
Shanghai) have optical fibre projects, which will soon offer speeds of 100
Mbps to 1 Gbps to many homes as early as 2008

While impossible to speculate on all the possible future applications that
will fuel demand, the continued exponential growth in "speed needs" points
to the need to ensure our infocomm infrastructure does not become a
constrain to our growth; and to the need to future-proof Singapore's
Infocomm infrastructure.

Data trends suggest exponential growth in network traffic will continue.
Ultra-high speed broadband pipes are necessary conduits for the future.
Infrastructure has been an enabler and a source of competitive advantage for
Singapore.  Such strategic foresight has served Singapore well.


The Infrastructure: Singapore, Totally Connected, Wired and Wireless  

Next Gen NII will comprise complementary wired and wireless networks to
ensure Singaporeans enjoy seamless connectivity.

The carrier-neutral, totally-wired network, or the National Broadband
Network (NBN) will have ultra-high access speeds capable of beyond 1 Gbps or
more than 500 times the common speed of 2 Mbps today. One technology already
used by countries that have begun to deploy such networks is optical fibre -
it uses fibres made of glass and can transmit data via light signals - that
will allow Net access speeds to zip above 1 Gbps easily.

With the combination of NBN (ultra-high speed wired network) and WBN
(pervasive wireless networks), Singapore can boast of being one of the
first, if not the first nation in the world to have such connectivity - that
is key to staying as a leading ICT nation.


The Delivery: Public-Private Partnership

The Government will adopt a public-private partnership approach to set up
the Next Gen NII.

For the wired National Broadband Network, the private sector is expected to
build, own and operate the network.  The Government is prepared to provide
some funding to kick-start the project and to ensure that this ultra
high-speed broadband service will be viable, affordable and sustainable for
the longer term.  

Pending industry's feedback and actual participation, the working timeline
for the deployment of NBN is as follows:

.	March 06 - Request-For-Concept (RFC) will be called.  That will
serve to gauge the market's response, feedback for the network. The RFC will
close after about two months.
.	June 06 - Request-For-Proposal (RFP) will be called. The RFP will
state the infrastructure capabilities and adopt a technology-neutral stance.

.	End-2006 - Evaluation of RFP will be completed.
.	Early-2007 - NBN will be awarded to private sector partner. The
appointed operator is expected to complete at least 50 percent rollout
within three years from the award, and complete the project within five
years.

More details on the RFC will be released over the next few weeks.   


For clarifications on the Next Generation National Infocomm Infrastructure,
please contact:

Ho Ka Wei (Mr)
Manager, Corporate and Marketing Communications
Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore
DID: 6211 0273
E-mail: [email protected]



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These news items and comments are mine alone and do not necessarily reflect
those  of the CANARIE board or management.
  

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