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ALL ROUND StarHub Ltd Annual Report 2015
SERVICES AVAILABLE Customers enjoy the seamless
HetNet
coverage even as they move between
different parts of the networks.
HetNet Heats Up Meanwhile, in a separate trial in May, we By the end of 2016, we Overview
successfully demonstrated a whopping plan to further expand
Our Network team is very much on top of 600Mbps peak download speed using HetNet coverage to some
the most advanced mobile technologies Nokia Network’s 4X4 MIMO technology 40 commercial buildings
in the industry and we are eager to put this with LTE-Advanced carrier Aggregation. and shopping malls such
know-how to good use for our customers. This was a first for the mobile industry of as nex and Jem, as well
While the basic island-wide mobile networks Southeast Asia. as the KK Women’s and
are up and running, we can always make
additional improvements and upgrades to We are just getting warmed up. Beginning Children’s Hospital.
boost speeds and capacity. with Marina Bay Sands, we have been
steadily expanding our HetNet coverage Strategy
More importantly, we are doing so in a more with help from both Huawei and Nokia.
cost-effective manner. Rather than building Our HetNet now also covers Marina Bay Performance
entirely new networks, we integrate the City Gallery, The Esplanade, The Float@
different networks together. Marina Bay, The Promontory@Marina Bay, Governance & Sustainability
The Fullerton Heritage, The Padang and War
Broadly called HetNet, it refers to networks Memorial Park.
that are typically a mix of macro base
stations and small cells. Quite often, By the end of 2016, we plan to further
enterprise-grade Wi-Fi access points are part expand HetNet coverage to some 40
of the networks as well. We do not require commercial buildings and shopping
our customers to remember all these; we just malls such as nex and Jem, as well as the
want them to enjoy the seamless coverage KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital. We will
even as they move between different parts of also conduct tests to integrate enterprise-
the networks. grade Wi-Fi at the Jurong Lake District, where
there is an IDA HetNet trial.
We have been working closely with our
infrastructure partners, drawing on where Thanks, 2G
they can offer optimal solutions that give
us a good balance between shareholders’ With the range of new technology options
demands and our customers’ satisfaction. available, it makes sense to move on from
what has served us well. In June, all three
In January, together with Huawei, we mobile operators announced that they will
deployed its Lampsite indoor coverage no longer provide 2G voice, messaging and
solution at The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands. data services from 1 April 2017. 2G services
This expansive mall has an indoor floor space have been around since 1994. 3G, offering a
of some 800,000 sq ft. This easily deployed much faster speed, began to run in tandem
solution lets us build on existing infrastructure but now, with the much more advanced 4G
by combining different spectrum bands into already the mainstay of mobile networks in
a single platform that is able to achieve peak Singapore, it makes sense for the industry to
throughput rates of 300Mbps. free up 2G spectrums for the more advanced
3G and 4G services instead.
This initiative was recognised when in
October, we were jointly presented with the We appreciate that a very small percentage
‘Best Innovation in Heterogeneous Networks’ of customers are still using 2G-only mobile
at LTE Asia Awards 2015. devices. We will reach out to them to ease
the transition, and we trust they will look
forward to a richer mobile experience with Financials
what we are already offering.