M1 ploughs SGD85m in mobile network upgrade

Singapore mobile operator M1 Limited (M1) has selected Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) to upgrade its core infrastructure to an internet protocol (IP)-based network, to help minimise the impact of service outages when certain parts of the network go down. As a further strand to the investment, the cellco says it will also add new radio modules on base stations across the city-state to enhance both indoor and outdoor service coverage. The Straits Times writes that NSN has been selected to modernise M1’s mobile networks, as well as to deploy a nationwide 3G radio network in the 900MHz frequency band, in a deal thought to be worth SGD85 million (USD68.7 million). The new 900MHz band network will complement the operator’s existing 3G infrastructure operating in the 2100MHz frequency band to enhance both indoor and outdoor coverage, it said. Work on the new network is scheduled to be completed in the second half of 2013.