Broadband Speed

Mdm Speaker, many factors influence the broadband speeds that consumers experience. There are also different methodologies to measure broadband speeds and to make international comparisons. Over the past two years, there has, in fact, been a significant improvement in broadband speeds in Singapore. One major reason for this is the availability of fibre services over the Next Generation Nationwide Broadband Network (NGNBN) since September 2010. Madam, with your permission, could I ask the Clerk to distribute the handout, Exhibit 1, please?

Madam, Exhibit 1 shows how our Internet access speeds have increased since 2010, when measured using Ookla NetIndex's methodology. Members will note that we have, in fact, overtaken a few countries during the period. As you can see, Singapore is represented by the green line and we have even exceeded the speeds in Japan and South Korea.

Akamai's third quarter 2012 report ranks Singapore some positions lower. Clearly, Akamai's results are dependent on its methodology, its content delivery network, the location of its servers relative to the countries it measures, and how it streams its data. But the results point in the same direction, namely, that Singapore is amongst the leading group of countries in broadband access speed. This is a positive sign, considering that a significant amount of traffic is from overseas hosted sites. IDA also regularly measures broadband speeds in Singapore. To get a better sense of the connection speeds experienced by users in Singapore, may I ask Members to refer to Exhibit 2? [Please refer to Annex 2.] For example, in November 2012, the local average peak download speed ranged from 93 megabits per second (Mbps) to 98.3 Mbps for a 100 Mbps

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plan. As expected, while international download speeds are expected to be lower, even in the case of US sites, the average peak download speed is still around 41.2 Mbps.

IDA has also taken steps to improve international download speeds. There are on-going efforts to encourage the hosting or mirroring of more of such content in Singapore. This reduces the geographical distance that Internet traffic has to traverse, thereby speeding up access to desired content. Long-term regulatory measures have also been taken to facilitate the landing of submarine cable systems in Singapore and the cross-connections among these cable systems, making Singapore one of the most connected countries with high bandwidth capability today. This is particularly critical for our outbound Internet traffic to content overseas.

The suggestion to mandate the free exchange of Internet traffic between local ISPs is a possible measure but not necessarily one that may improve connection speeds as it may have limited effect on connection speeds to overseas content. Countries, such as Hong Kong, Japan and South Korea, which are reported to have high Internet speeds, also do not compel their ISPs to implement free exchange of Internet traffic.

That said, IDA is actively monitoring market developments and looking at ways to improve the broadband experience of end users in Singapore. IDA does not rule out the option of imposing further regulatory requirements on the ISPs if that is necessary to improve broadband experience of users. However, we need to be mindful that the Internet market is dynamic and complex, and that any regulatory interventions should be justified, effective and sustainable, rather than create uncertainties for the market or inadvertently dull market incentives to invest, innovate and compete. IDA is also studying the broadband market to see what other policy or developmental instruments can be used to make the market work even better.

Mdm Speaker, I thank the Minister for his comprehensive reply. When we see the results of the survey in the handout stating that broadband speed provided by the telcos is close to what they promise in the marketing materials of, say, 100 or 200 megabits per second, I am not so sure whether there is a disconnect. Many of the residents, including myself, do not find that the broadband speed is really up to that mark. In fact, the average broadband speed that we experience for the 100 megabits per second type of plan is about 10 to 20 megabits per second.

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Could the Minister shed some light on the following two areas. One, how does IDA conduct the survey or audit these telcos? Does the audit cover different geographical areas or does it just concentrate on certain areas? Two, the Minister has mentioned about a review of regulations to encourage telcos to meet up to expectations or fulfil their promises stated in the marketing materials. What is the carrot-and-stick approach that the Minister is thinking about?

Madam, I thank the Member for the questions. On his first question on how the measurement was done, IDA commissioned a local company to perform the measurement of our fixed broadband network performance of the local ISPs. In fact, the results of the performance that we gathered were all reported on IDA's website and it is a consolidated total of 563 test probes installed in the homes of volunteers from both the public and IDA. These test probes cover a selected range of plans from the major residential broadband service providers in Singapore. And at regular intervals, the test probes conduct the series of tests against IDA's test servers housed in the local Internet Data Centres and the US East Coast and West Coast. So, it is quite comprehensive, but I will be happy to ask IDA to look into the Member's concern in his own area and see whether we can find out what is the cause of the problem.

We all know that there are many factors which affect the way data are transmitted. I have mentioned these in my reply. There could be congestion during that period because a lot of people are using or accessing the same site. So, I will be happy to ask IDA to work together with the Member to investigate whether there are real concerns or local concerns in his particular constituency.

On the second question on how fast and what are the regulatory measures that we are looking into, as I mentioned earlier in my reply, this is something which we will have to study very carefully. The last thing that we want is to introduce new measures that basically dull the market rather than make the market more competitive. I would like to assure the Member and the House that this is a very important concern for us. So, we have now imposed a quality of service (QoS) standard for the fixed broadband that has been set out with specific indicators so that the Internet providers know what is expected of them. We are also reviewing the quality of service standard for fixed time broadband to ensure that it is continually relevant to the end users. We are also considering the feasibility of establishing a broadband quality of service framework for mobile broadband services.

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So, we will move and ensure that the standards that we want for both fixed and mobile broadband services will meet the expectations of our consumers. But we will not rest there. As I mentioned earlier, for the fixed broadband services, we will monitor the standards that we have already imposed and see whether they continue to be relevant, and we are now considering new standards for the mobile broadband services.

I thank the Minister for covering the aspects of mobile broadband. When we talk about broadband today, it also relates to mobile. If you look at the various studies, I think Singapore lags behind. Some people say we are behind in terms of coverage and speed for our mobile broadband. One area is that we do not have enough base stations, and I think many of the telcos are having difficulty getting access into buildings.

Would the Ministry work with the BCA, for example, to look into how we can include base stations as part of the building codes? These are usually spaces which are not used, and I do not see why operators need to spend a lot of time and extra money, which is passed on to consumers, in trying to put up base stations. We should just fix some of these costs and include these base stations in the building codes.

These are very good questions from the Member. In fact, that is what we are doing under the new regulation, which is part of the Act. We are requiring developments to set aside space for base stations for the purpose of broadband services. This is an important move as we begin to realise that broadband services are becoming an essential part of life in Singapore. By working with the developers to make sure that spaces are provided to allow providers to put up the stations earlier, I think it will help consumers to get their service as soon as possible.

On the current efforts to work with building owners, we are in conversation with the telcos and with the building owners to see how best we can meet the needs. We want to try and increase the coverage as much as possible. But the Member is right. At the end of the day, the hurdle is structural. We have to work with people to give us space in their buildings to allow us to locate all of their base stations and other necessary equipment in order to get better coverage for Singapore.

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