SingTel to offer 4G by year-end, rivals hard on its heels

SingTel Mobile yesterday confirmed that it will launch a commercial 4G service based on Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology by the end of this year, AsiaOne News reports. SingTel vice president for consumer products, Ms Chan Yim Leng, is quoted as saying that at launch it is more likely the firm will be offering a dongle-based connection, although smartphones and handsets are set to follow. ‘It is dependent on device manufacturers,’ she said on the sidelines of the Unwired 2011 conference. Ms Leng highlighted a number of compatibility issues between LTE-ready phones and the city state operators’ upcoming networks. Meanwhile, rival cellco StarHub has confirmed it will deploy LTE ‘later this year’, and M1 kicked off its rollout this month with a view to completing it in 1Q12. However, neither would confirm when commercial services would be available.