Singapore’s Infocomm sector grew in 2008 despite downturn

Singapore’s information and communication (Infocomm) sector showed resilient growth last year despite the impact of the economic downturn, according to a statement from Acting Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts, Lui Tuck Yew. The city-state’s revenue from Infocomm services expanded 12.4% year-on-year to SGD58.1 billion (USD80.7 billion), although the growth rate was slower than in preceding years. In a speech to open the Infocomm Media Business Exchange (imbX 2009), the minister reported that in terms of domestic revenue, Singapore’s growth rate was 25.9% in 2008, fuelled by the rise in demand for voice communication and IT implementation services. Going forward, the government intends to invest SGD1.73 billion on new Infocomm projects in 2009 and 2010. As part of the ongoing investment, the state hopes its Next Generation National Broadband Network project will cover 60% of homes and offices by 2010 and achieve nationwide coverage by 2012. In addition, the government intends to extend the remit of its Wireless@SG programme, launched in 2006, to complement connectivity in the home and office, for another four years till March 2013, Lui said. Today, there are 7,500 Wi-Fi hotspots across the country and 1.3 million subscribers under the programme.