Communications in Singapore
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Singapore's telecommunication infrastructure is highly developed. As of 1998, there were almost 55 million phone lines in Singapore, close to 47 million of which also served other telecommunication devices like computers and facsimile machines. Underwater telephone cables have been laid that lead to Malaysia, the Philippines and Indonesia.
As of November 2004, there are three cellular phone operators in Singapore serving almost four million cellular phones. As for internet facilities, as of 1999, there were eight internet service providers (ISPs) in Singapore. By November 2004, there were almost 500,000 broadband customers in Singapore. Howevever, due to the small market and possible market collusion, there have been rising concerns that various ISPs' telecommunication infrastructures being highly under-utilised.
Radio and television stations are all government-owned entities. All seven television channels are owned by MediaCorp; its only other competitor, SPH Mediaworks closed its television channel on January 1, 2005. Due to the proximity of Singapore to Malaysia and Indonesia, almost all radios and television sets in Singapore can pick up broadcast signals from both countries. Private ownership of satellite dishes is banned, but most households have access to the StarHub cable TV network. As of 1997, there were 1.3 million televisions in Singapore.
All radio stations are operated either by MediaCorp, the Singapore Armed Forces Reservist Association (SAFRA) or UnionWorks. As of 1997, there were 2.5 million radios in Singapore.
The print media is dominated by Singapore Press Holdings which publishes The Straits Times. Daily newspapers are published in English, Chinese, Malay, and Tamil.
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Telephones
Telephones - main lines in use: 54.6 million (including 46.62 million that serve facsimile machines, computers, and other communication devices) (1998)
Telephones - mobile cellular:
- Subscribers: 3,798,800 (Nov 2004)
- Operators: 3 (2004)
- Singtel Mobile
- M1
- StarHub
Telephone system:
good domestic facilities; good international service
domestic:
NA
international:
submarine cables to Malaysia (Sabah and Peninsular Malaysia), Indonesia, and the Philippines; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (1 Indian Ocean and 1 Pacific Ocean), and 1 Inmarsat (Pacific Ocean region)
IDD Country Code: +65
Radio
Radio broadcast stations (as of March 2005): AM 0, FM 19, shortwave 5 (Source:http://www.asiawaves.net/snglocs.htm)
Radios: 2.55 million (1997)
Television
Television broadcast stations (as of March 2005): 6 free-to-air(analogue) + 1 digital channel (TV Mobile) (Source:http://www.asiawaves.net/sngtv.htm)
Both of them merge. See Singapore Media Merger
Televisions: 1.33 million (1997)
see also: List of Singaporean television channels
Internet
Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 8 (1999)
Broadband
- Subscribers: 497,100 (56.73% xDSL, 42.14% cable, 0.62% leased circuit, 0.51% others) as of Nov 2004
- Typical pricing (residential consumers only):
- Cable: Unlimited traffic, 25 Mbit/s down, 1 Mbit/s up: SGD 121.80 per month (Source: StarHub (http://www.starhub.com/online/maxonline/))
- ADSL: Unlimited traffic, 3.5 Mbit/s down, 350 kbit/s up: SGD 83.90 per month (Source: Singnet (http://home.singtel.com/consumer/products/internet/internet_price_plan.asp))
Country code (Top level domain): SG
- See also : Singapore
External links
Ministry Of Information, Communications And The Arts (http://www.mica.gov.sg), Singapore
Media Development Authority (MDA) (http://www.mda.gov.sg), Singapore
Infocomm Development Authority (IDA) (http://www.ida.gov.sg), Singapore
IDA Statistics on Telecom Services (http://www.ida.gov.sg/idaweb/media/infopage.jsp?infopagecategory=&infopageid=92&versionid=9)