SINGAPORE: Singapore's Infocomm Development Authority (IDA) has tightened the Quality of Service (QoS) standards for 3G mobile services in phases with effect from April 1.
3G services will be available at almost every public area including tunnels.
There will be more than 85 per cent of 3G services available within buildings, especially office buildings.
The
enhanced 3G mobile QoS includes mobile coverage of up to 99 per cent in
nationwide outdoor areas, up to 99 per cent for road and MRT tunnels,
and more than 85 per cent within buildings.
Operators can be fined up to S$50,000 if they fail to comply with any of these new QoS standards.
- CNA/cc
Telcos may spend more to boost network capacity
SINGAPORE : Singapore telecom operators are expected to invest between S$1.3 billion and S$1.4 billion this year to boost their network capacity.on expectation of a surge in mobile data volumes.
Analysts said it is also to meet new measures by the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA), which wants more coverage and capacity.
Earlier this week, IDA introduced a slew of measures to boost the quality of 3G mobile services for subscribers.
From April 1, telcos must ensure that there is more than 99 per cent coverage in outdoor areas, roads and MRT tunnels.
And there must be more than 85 per cent coverage within buildings, especially offices.
Another new standard is that drop call rates must be less than 1 per cent.
Operators can be fined up to S$50,000 if they fail to comply with any of these new standards.
The three telcos - SingTel, M1 and StarHub - said they are committed to providing high-quality mobile services.
And analysts said the three telcos have no issues of meeting the requirements set by IDA.
Sachin
Gupta, regional head of telecom research Asia ex-Japan at Nomura, said:
"This is not a new phenomenon, the networks are getting congested. The
network outages are getting more and more common and telcos are looking
to spend more as well."
Analysts believe that telecom regulator IDA may also impose new standards later this year.
This is to cater for the upcoming faster data network or Long Term Evolution (LTE).
Bertrand
Bidaud, managing vice president for CSP Strategy at Gartner Research,
said: "There will be new regulations, 3G is not going to be obsolete for
at least another 10 years. So, there will be period of overlap between
the new technology, there will be a need for new regulation, in
particular to guarantee the quality of service with mobile data on LTE."
The telcos are expected to fork out more in investments to boost their networks and prepare for this new market requirements.
James
R Sullivan, head of telecom research at JP Morgan, said: "The very fast
increase in overall data usage in this market will lead to significant
increase in capex. And that will be the more powerful impact on
operators."
JP Morgan is overweight on SingTel but neutral on M1
and StarHub because SingTel's existing spectrum will give them an
advantage over its competitors.
Meanwhile, Nomura puts a "buy" call on M1 on valuation versus a neutral call for SingTel and StarHub.
Analysts said that the increased investments may not generate any incremental returns for the telcos.
Average revenue per users have been and will likely be flat going forward.
However, spending on improving coverage and capacity is necessary to retain and provide better services to existing customers.
- CNA/ms
No use on increasing the coverage if the server is too congested n overwhelming with user.. They all use the same network thus its too much for the server..
U only subscribe to the high plan but unable to use it due to too many user