LIVE FROM MWL UNWRAPPED: THE 5G EVOLUTION: CEO of Singtel Singapore Ng Tian Chong (pictured) described the country as something of a sandbox for 5G, resulting in it being able to build out one of the world’s leading standalone (SA) networks.

He explained Singtel began building out SA 5G sometime in 2021, with work completed in 2022, “three years before regulatory requirements – we were ahead of time”.

Backed by a forward looking government that invests in future technology, Tian Chong said from 2022 it was able to use its SA network to support the public sector in homeland defence, public security and over time extend this out to other sectors, citing examples in the EV sector, and digital twin and AI robotics deployments with Hyundai Group.

Putting the focus on network slicing, Tian Chong opened up on a collaboration with vendor Ericsson to develop different kinds of network slicing at big events, to support manufacturing at campuses and most recently application-based slicing.

He explained there is strategic importance to offering differentiated services in Singapore given the competitive landscape, with a population of just over 6 million served by four operators, along with multiple MVNOs.

Take-off
Putting its “know-how” in standalone 5G to action, Tian Chong said the operator applied it to the consumer side of 5G by using examples from the airline industry to offer services similar to economy, business and first class.

“On the same 5G network, we can have the lower ARPU customers, and yet we want to be able to add differentiation for business class and first class, meaning the higher ARPU customers.”

To do this, the CEO said it acquired four lots of 700MHz, being the first operator to do so and deploy it for 5G only.

“Straight away, 5G became the main airline and 4G the budget airline. On top of that we unlocked slicing capability to high ARPU customers, and we offered business and first class ARPU customers priority access and four times faster speeds.”

Enhancing the offering further, it worked with Palo Alto Networks on security features inside the slice.

“To do this like an airline, it is not just about the product in the aircraft. It’s about the loyalty programme, it’s about the service,” he concluded.