Singapore Internet Case Study
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THE e-CITY: SINGAPORE INTERNET CASE STUDY April 2001 Michael Minges, Magda Ismail and Larry Press wrote this report. Vanessa Gray provided editorial comments and Nathalie Delmas handled formatting and production. Vincent Tan Fu Ming of Radin Mas Primary School in Singapore drew the picture on the cover. The authors are indebted to the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) for its support and particularly Meng Chung Lee who graciously dealt with the logistics. The report is based on field research undertaken 24-28 July 2000 as well as reports and articles identified in the bibliography or as footnotes. We would like to thank Jenny Yeo (Radin Mas Primary School), Alvin Kuek (AsiaStockWatch), Yap Kwang Tan (Ministry of Education), Colin Quek (National Healthcare Group), Siew Luan Yap (AsiaOne), Yoke Wah Lum (Ministry of Health), Cecilia Yip (Singa- pore Broadcasting Authority), Vivien Chow (Singapore Cable Vision) as well as IDA for their valuable comments on the draft version of this report. The views expressed are those of the authors and may not necessarily re- flect the opinions of the International Telecommunication Union, its mem- bers, or the Government of the Republic of Singapore. This report is one of a series of Internet Case Studies. Additional information is available on the Internet Case Studies web site at www.itu.int/ti/casestudies. © ITU 2001 ii Contents 1. Country background ............................................................ 1 1.1 Overview............................................................................. 1 1.2 Demography ........................................................................ 1 1.3 Economy ............................................................................. 1 1.4 Human development............................................................. 2 1.5 Political ............................................................................... 2 2. Information and Communication Technology markets ......... 4 2.1 Telecommunication Sector ..................................................... 4 2.2 Information Technology Sector............................................. 11 2.3 Mass media ....................................................................... 14 3. Internet policy ................................................................... 19 3.1 Role of incumbent telecom operator ...................................... 19 3.2 Pricing .............................................................................. 19 3.3 Regulatory issues ............................................................... 22 3.4 Universal access................................................................. 25 4. Information & Communication Technology & the Nation ... 30 4.1 Government ...................................................................... 30 4.2 Health .............................................................................. 33 4.3 Education .......................................................................... 35 4.4 Electronic commerce........................................................... 42 5. Summary & recommendations ........................................... 47 5.1 State of the Internet in Singapore ........................................ 47 5.2 Recommendations .............................................................. 49 Annex 1: List of meetings........................................................ 52 Annex 2: Acronyms and abbreviations .................................... 53 Annex 3: Useful links .............................................................. 54 Annex 4: Framework dimensions ............................................ 55 Annex 5: Bibliography ............................................................. 57 iii Figures 1.1 Map of Singapore ................................................................. 1 1.2 Weathering the storm ...........................................................2 2.1 Singapore Inc. ..................................................................... 6 2.2 Telephone subscribers ...........................................................9 2.3 SingTel revenue ................................................................. 10 2.4 Internet market in Singapore ............................................... 13 2.5 SingaporeOne Network Infrastructure ................................... 14 3.1 Who is the cheapest? .......................................................... 20 3.2 SingTel IX.......................................................................... 20 3.3 Calling choices ................................................................... 24 3.4 Whose homes are most connected? ...................................... 26 3.5 Internet and language ........................................................ 27 4.1 e-citizen ............................................................................ 30 4.2 Putting the money where the mouth is .................................. 32 4.3 SingAREN Network Configuration .......................................... 36 4.4 ICT manpower needs and training ........................................ 37 4.5 Whose schools are most wired? ............................................ 38 5.1 State of the Internet in Singapore ........................................ 47 Tables 1.1 Human Development Indicators ............................................. 3 2.1 Telecom liberalization milestones ............................................5 2.2 Licenses .............................................................................. 8 2.3 Singapore PC Market .......................................................... 11 2.4 ISPs in Singapore ............................................................... 12 2.5 Mass media indicators ......................................................... 17 3.1 SingTels Internet Activities .................................................. 19 3.2 Internet access prices ......................................................... 21 3.3 Broadband Internet pricing .................................................. 22 3.4 ISP Quality of Service conditions .......................................... 22 4.1 Ranking Singapore ............................................................. 33 4.2 Singapore's health infrastructure .......................................... 33 4.3 Singapore at school ............................................................ 35 4.4 E-commerce in Singapore.................................................... 44 5.1 State of the Internet in Singapore compared to other economies .............................................. 49 Boxes 2.1 Mobile Internet .................................................................. 10 2.2 From printed newspapers to online ones ............................... 15 3.1 Kiosking Singapore ............................................................. 27 3.2 Multilingual Singapore ......................................................... 28 4.1 Future schools: Radin Mas Primary School ............................. 41 4.2 AsiaStockWatch.com ........................................................... 45 iv 1. Country background 1. Country background 1.1 Overview Singaporeans themselves have com- mitted to the policy, culture and prac- The Republic of Singapore, with an area tice of equal treatment of all races. of only 660 square kilometres, is lo- Chinese (Mandarin), Malay, Tamil and cated in Southeast Asia at the south- English are all official languages, with ern tip of the Malaysian peninsula. It English being the predominant lan- is comprised of a main island and sev- guage in business and government eral islets. Singapores northern neigh- dealings.2 Some 20 other languages bour is Malaysia, linked by a bridge are also used on the island crossing across the Johore Strait. On <www.sil.org/ethnologue/countries/ the south, is Indonesia. Singapores Sing.html>. In 2000, there were strategic location at the crossing of 923000 resident households for an many trade routes has contributed average household size of 3.7. The strongly to its history and economic total number of occupied housing units development. The island is relatively was 964138. flat, with a tropical temperature due to its proximity to the equa- Figure 1.1: Map of Singapore tor and abundant rainfall from its sea exposure. Less than two per cent of the land is used for agri- culture. The rest is evenly divided be- tween developed and undeveloped areas. The name of the country is derived from a Sanskrit word SingaPura (Lion City). 1.2 Demogra- phy In June 2000 the population of Singa- pore was four million, of which 3.0 million were citizens, 290000 were perma- nent residents and 755000 were non- resident.1 Average Source: The World Factbook 1999. annual population growth from 1990- 2000 was 2.8 per cent. The popula- 1.3 Economy tion is predominantly of Chinese descent (77 per cent), followed by With a small domestic market, few Malay (14 per cent) and Indian (8 per natural resources, and a strategic lo- cent) ethnic groups. Since independ- cation, Singapore has a long history ence, the Singapore government and as a trading nation. It leads the South 1 Singapore Internet Case Study Figure 1.2: Weathering the storm Singapore distribution of GDP, 1999 and GDP change over previous year Singapore GDP Growth È È È 0DQXIDFWXULQJ È È Services 66% Construction 8% 6LQJDSRUH È *'3Ã6KDUHÃ 7RWDOÃ6ÇÃÃELOOLRQ 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 Source: Singapore Department of Statistics. East Asia region in imports and exports low for such