M1 to roll out new fibre network to support broadband drive

Singaporean mobile operator MobileOne Asia (M1) is reportedly planning to offer customers access to a fibre-optic network offering broadband speeds 30 times higher than it currently offers. The Strait Times reports that the broadband war is hotting up in the city-state with companies looking to deploy wireless networks with download speeds of up to 100Mbps in coming years. M1’s new SGD40 million-SGD60 million (USD26 million-USD39 million) network, which is due to come on-stream in 2009-10, will be used for backhauling services on the operator’s mobile network, for wireless broadband users on the move, and ultimately for residential users too. M1 currently pays third parties such as SingTel roughly SGD20 million per annum to route traffic through its networks. Its CEO Neil Montefiore said the decision to install its own terrestrial cabling would cut costs in the long term and boost speeds in what is set to become a ‘tough’ domestic broadband sector.