Internet in Singapore

In Singapore, there are 9,132,700 broadband Internet subscribers and the residential wired broadband household penetration rate was at 104.2% (as of December 2011). There are three major Internet service providers in Singapore, namely, SingNet, StarHub, and M1. Over the years, the Singapore Government has been promoting the usage of broadband Internet access, as part of its Intelligent Nation 2015 (iN2015) initiative.

Internet access is readily available in Singapore, with connectivity rate of over 99%.

Beginnings
Before the Internet, Singapore was the first country to launch an interactive information service to the public which included photographic images. A service known as Teleview was jointly developed by Telecom Authority of Singapore (TAS) and GEC-Marconi of the UK. The service started trials during late 1987 using specifically designed terminals. This was expanded in 1989, and eventually, as Personal Computers became more capable, there was a software/hardware addition made available for the PC. Early service providers for editorials were Singapore Press Holdings, Housing Development Board and Singapore Stock Exchange, which provided a range of services, including general news, business news, housing lots and selection lists, real-time stocks and shares prices.

Teleview was initially set up as a public service at the same time Singapore Telecom was formed in 1992 from the business arm of TAS, whereas TAS remained as the statutory regulatory authority. Subscribers connected to the Teleview, now-defunct, service by SingTel, via a dialup connection initially by 1200-2400 bit modems (V22 Biz) and then later via 9600-14400 kbit/s modems. Subscribers initially paid no time based usage fee for this service. However later charges, on top of telephone line charges were levied. A later development from Teleview provided an interfaced connection to the Internet, subscribers were given access to the Internet via a text-only terminal; email was accessed by Pine, and webpages were viewed by Lynx. Subsequently, Teleview was rendered obsolete, and SingNet started offering to the Internet via SLIP/PPP over modem.

Dial-up access
Access to the Internet via Teleview-SingNet evolved to a full-fledged dial-up service known as SingNet, a subsidiary of SingTel. The formerly-private TechNet network was purchased by Pacific Internet. A third ISP was Cyberway; it was eventually purchased by StarHub in 21 January 1999.

Broadband access
In a government-led initiative to connect the island in a high-speed broadband network using various mediums such as fibre, DSL and cable, the Singapore ONE project was formally announced in June 1996, and commercially launched in June 1998. By December 1998, Singapore ONE is available nationwide with the completion of the national fibre optics network.

In 1997, commercial trials for SingTel ATM-based "SingTel Magix" service were undertaken in March, before being launched in June. Also in June, Singapore Cable Vision commenced trails for its cable modem based services, before being commercially deployed in December 1999. Singtel's ADSL service was subsequently rolled out on a nation-wide scale in August 2000.

In 2006, M1 introduced its broadband services.

Current developments
In January 2001, the Broadband Media Association was formed to promote the broadband industry. By April the same year there were six broadband Internet providers, with the total number of broadband users exceeding 300,000. Pacific Internet introduced wireless broadband services in October 2001.

In December 2006, Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) introduced a programme named "Wireless@SG". It is part of its Next Generation National Infocomm Infrastructure initiative. It offers everyone free wireless access in high human-traffic areas, including the Central Business District, downtown shopping belts like Orchard Road, and residential town centres. The access speed has been doubled to 1 Mbit/s since 1 September 2009 and the free service will continue until 31 March 2013.

In early September 2010, internet service providers in Singapore rolled out the Next Generation Nationwide Broadband Network (Next Gen NBN) service plans. The Next Gen NBN is Singapore’s nation-wide ultra-high speed fibre network. It offers pervasive, competitively priced broadband speeds of up to 1 Gbps at comparable prices to ADSL and cable connection. Deployed 75% nationwide as of August 2011, Next Gen NBN is on track to achieve its target of 95 per cent coverage by mid-2012.

Censorship
In Singapore, Internet services provided by the three major Internet service providers are subject to regulation by the Media Development Authority (MDA) to block a "symbolic" number of websites containing "mass impact objectionable" material, including Playboy and YouPorn. In addition, the Ministry of Education of Singapore blocks access to pornographic and similar objectionable Internet sites on its proxy servers.

Dial-up providers
As from 2012, all telcos have stopped providing Dial-up in the nation for residential usage. Non-Residential Users may have Dial-up as backup.   

ADSL providers

 * SingNet (Plans: 6 Mbit/s, 10 Mbit/s, 15 Mbit/s, 25 Mbit/s (only available on mio Plan))
 * StarHub (Plans: Various but only available to Business users in the CBD area)
 * M1 (Plans: 5 Mbit/s, 8 Mbit/s, 15 Mbit/s)
 * Viewqwest (Plans: Various but only available to Business users in the CBD area)
 * OSINet (Plans: 6 Mbit/s, 10 Mbit/s, 15 Mbit/s, 25 Mbit/s)

Cable broadband providers

 * StarHub (Plans: 3 Mbit/s, 6 Mbit/s, 16 Mbit/s, 50 Mbit/s, 100 Mbit/s)
 * M1 (Plans: 15 Mbit/s, 30 Mbit/s, 100 Mbit/s)
 * NTT Communications (Plans: 10 Mbit/s, 20 Mbit/s, 100 Mbit/s)

Networking company

 * OpenNet (Passive Infrastructure Company ; NetCo ; Wholesale)

Operating companies

 * Nucleus Connect (Active Infrastructure Company ; OpCo ; Wholesale) - Commenced Commercial Operations on 31 Aug 2010
 * SingTel (Active Infrastructure Company ; OpCo ; Wholesale) - Deployed on 31 Aug 2010
 * M1 (Active Infrastructure Company ; OpCo ; Wholesale) - Deployed in Sep 2011
 * ViewQwest (Active Infrastructure Company ; OpCo ; Wholesale) - Deployed in the 2nd half of year 2010

Retail service providers

 * M1
 * Residential Plans: 25 Mbit/s, 100 Mbit/s, 200 Mbit/s, 300 Mbit/s, 1 Gbit/s
 * Business Plans: 10 Mbit/s, 25 Mbit/s, 50 Mbit/s, 100 Mbit/s


 * SingTel
 * Residential Plans: 200 Mbit/s, 300 Mbit/s, 500 Mbit/s
 * Business Plans: 30 Mbit/s, 100 Mbit/s


 * StarHub
 * Residential Plans: 100 Mbit/s, 200 Mbit/s, 300Mbit/s, 1 Gbit/s
 * Business Plans: 100 Mbit/s


 * SuperInternet
 * Residential Plan: 100 Mbit/s
 * Business Plan: 100 Mbit/s


 * LGA Telecom
 * Business Plan: 10 Mbit/s, 1 Gbit/s


 * Pacnet
 * Business Plan: 5 Mbit/s, 100 Mbit/s


 * Viewqwest
 * Residential Plans: 200 Mbit/s, 400Mbit/s, 500 Mbit/s, 1 Gbit/s
 * Business Plan: 10 Mbit/s, 20 Mbit/s, 35 Mbit/s, 100 Mbit/s, 1 Gbit/s


 * MyRepublic
 * Residential Plans: 1 Gbit/s - Pure, 1 Gbit/s - Pure HD & Gamer
 * Business Plans: 100 Mbit/s, 200 Mbit/s, 500 Mbit/s, 1 Gbit/s - SME


 * ZONE Telecom Pte Ltd
 * Business Plans: 5 Mbit/s to 1 Gbit/s Mission Critical class of service


 * AJP Business Pte Ltd
 * Business Plans: 25Mbit/s and above.

Wireless broadband (HSDPA and Wimax) providers
OLD plans: 1 Mbit/s, 2 Mbit/s, 4 Mbit/s, 7.2 Mbit/s, 21 Mbit/s (All unlimited data)
 * M1

NEW plans: 7.2 Mbit/s (comes with 5GB/12GB/50GB data), 21 Mbit/s (50GB data) Current plans: 1.2 Mbit/s, 2 Mbit/s, 7.2 Mbit/s, 21 Mbit/s (All excepct 1.2 Mbit/s have unlimited data usage; 1.2 Mbit/s has a limit of 30GB data)
 * QMax (Plans: 256 kbit/s 512 kbit/s, 1 Mbit/s, 1.5 Mbit/s)
 * StarHub
 * Pacnet (Plans: 512 kbit/s)
 * SingTel (Plans: 1 Mbit/s, 2 Mbit/s, 7.2 Mbit/s, 14.4 Mbit/s)

Wireless@SG (Wi-Fi) operators (Free access; Up to 1 Mbit/s)

 * iCELL
 * M1
 * SingTel