Netlink NBN Trust, the company which owns the network forming the core of Singapore’s ultra-high speed Next Generation Nationwide Broadband Network (Next Gen NBN), will reportedly support newcomer TPG (Singapore’s) planned 5G trial network at Singapore Science Park 1 and 2. The Business Times cites a bourse filing yesterday (11 November) in which NetLink Group confirmed that its operating arm will provide the fibre-optic network infrastructure to connect TPG’s 5G base stations, adding that Singapore’s new fourth operator aims to roll out a fifth-generation mobile network with ‘better than 99%’ 3.5GHz outdoor coverage across the business parks by 2020. ‘This will be based on a commercially ready 5G core that follows 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Release 15, the newest 5G standard,’ it said.
‘We are glad to support TPG Telecom with its 5G trial. We are also fully supportive of the Infocomm Media Development Authority’s [IMDA] objectives to achieve pervasive deployment of 5G infrastructure and grow the 5G innovation ecosystem,’ said Tong Yew Heng, CEO of NetLink NBN Trust. ‘We look forward to working with industry partners to use our nationwide fibre network to accelerate the realisation of IMDA’s objectives.’
The news follows last month’s development in which CapitaLand confirmed it had entered into partnership with TPG (Singapore) and NavInfo DataTech to set up the nation’s largest 5G smart estate trial site at Singapore Science Park. The partners plan to develop and trial 5G-enabled cellular vehicle-to-everything (C-V2X) technologies for intelligent mobility solutions in a commercial space, they confirmed at the time as part of the ‘Smart Urban Co-Innovation Lab’ that CapitaLand is establishing at Singapore Science Park to ‘discover, develop, test and deploy new, sustainable smart city products, services and solutions,’ it said.