Singapore to get free wireless Internet

The government has announced that by 2007, most of the island nation of Singapore would have free wireless internet coverage.

The Singapore government announced that till the next year they have plans to cover "most" of the island with free wireless Internet access. They also said that about 10,000 subsidized computers would be made available to low-income students to offer equal opportunities to everybody in Singapore.

On Thursday, the Prime Minister of Singapore Lee Hsien Loong launched the Wireless@SG initiative. It marked 25 years of a drive to boost information technology in Singapore. He revealed that by next year the government will increase the number of public wireless "hotspots" from 900 to 5,000. He said that his government will never allow a digital divide and equal opportunities will be provided to all citizens. He further clarified that about 10,000 needy households with school-going children will qualify for subsidized computers and that there will be concentrated efforts towards educating the elderly and disabled to use the Internet. A popular newspaper reported that families that earn less than 200 Singapore dollars ($125) a month could purchase a computer for S$285 ($179).

A press release from the Singapore government's Infocomm Development Authority, which is running Wireless@SG gave further insights. A total of three operators will team up to provide the wireless Internet connection to "most" of the island. 

The three telecom operators are SingTel, iCell and QMax. Singtel operates one of the two-largest Wi-Fi services in Singapore. iCell is into maintenance and deployment of many Wi-Fi hotspots in Singapore. QMax is a part of Qala, which was formed by several ex-employees of Pacific Internet. QMax is one of the tier-two broadband services providers in Singapore and the first to launch Wi-Max trials in Singapore. 

All the operators will be mandated to provide roaming facility with each other’s networks. This means it will be difficult or may be nearly impossible for a user to successfully transit from one operator to another. 
The user will have to re-login to the system, which is not a great idea. 

The operators will provide free wireless hotspots in high-traffic and public areas like town centers, business districts and shopping belts. 

The Singapore government has identified 48 designated hotspots where this service will be provided. The three operators are not ordered to provide wireless Internet service outside these 48 designated hotspots. These 48 hotzones will be divided into North, East and West sectors. All the three operators will manage their own networks in their respective zones. Reports suggest that even 40% of Singapore will struggle to get this service. But mind you, this is a national wireless broadband and not nationwide. In simple terms this wireless Internet service will not covered entire Singapore. 

Among the operators, SingTel will offer the service free for three years; the others for two years. Users may get a surfing speed of 512 kbps line-shared access via the wireless Internet connection. And what’s more? Users will be able to surf the net for free for two years. The operators can take a nominal premium service charge from the users. 

The Wireless@SG service will use Wi-Fi for this purpose. Unfortunately, Wi-Fi is limited by range as compared to its big brother Wi-Max that offers better coverage. The government can also use HSPDA the high-speed cellular-based wireless broadband technology. HSPDA is expected to hit Singapore next year. It offers a wide coverage area and has a much better handover capacity.

The Singapore development authority will spend 30 million Singapore dollars ($18.9 million) of the expected S$100 million ($63 million) cost for the wireless networks.

Note: Something similar is happening in Pune too. Intel India and PMC (Pune Municipal Corporation) have joined hands to architect an "Unwired Pune" by 2007. This wireless communication network proposes to cover 400sq kms of Pune city. Intel has suggested deploying Wi-Max technology to empower Pune with high-speed wireless Internet. Cost of the entire project is not known, as yet.

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