Singapore Telecommunications (Singtel) has joined the race to deploy even faster mobile network services, with the announcement yesterday that from next month it will be able to offer nationwide coverage of next generation Long Term Evolution-Advanced (LTE-A), or 4G+, services. The announcement is hot on the heels of rival M1’s 4G+ deployment in December last year. A spokesperson for M1 says that since launch, LTE-A is available in more than 95% of outdoor areas and the majority of indoor areas. Singtel’s 4G+ footprint will also reach at least 95% of outdoor areas in the city-state, with a spokesman for the carrier confirming that its signal strength will be very strong in these areas. ‘When we measure during testing, there must be a minimum of three signal bars at street level for it to count,’ he said. Singtel users are expected to see typical download speeds of 20Mbps-140Mbps on the LTE-A network, compared with 16Mbps-70Mbps on its LTE network.
The nation’s third mobile operator StarHub meanwhile, is reportedly looking to have completed its LTE-A rollout by the third quarter of this year. In September 2014 StarHub began upgrading data speeds on its LTE network, doubling peak download data speeds to 300Mbps to allow its subscribers to fully utilise devices such as the Samsung Galaxy Note Edge and Note 4. The 300Mbps upgrade covered the Central Business District and Orchard Road areas.