The government of Singapore announced a 5G testbed in Sentosa, which will trial promising public sector use cases that could be rolled out in the country in the next five years.
The initiative, dubbed ‘5G@Sentosa’, is a public-private sector collaboration led by the Government Technology Agency (GovTech), the Sentosa Development Corporation (SDC) and local carrier Singtel.
The Sentosa testbed will enable state agencies to trial use cases that improve operational effectiveness and deliver citizen-centric services. 5G will also enhance GovTech’s Smart Nation Sensor Platform, facilitating agencies’ gathering and processing of sensor data in real-time and opening up new operational possibilities in areas such as urban planning and traffic management.
Singtel is participating in the project with its network and edge cloud infrastructure, supporting 5G application rollout.
The Singapore government said that a total of 10 trials are underway in areas such as construction, manufacturing, healthcare and tourism.
The government aims to have 15 live trials by public agencies running in Sentosa by the end of the year, and at least 30 by the first half of 2023.
“5G@Sentosa gives GovTech a platform to work with agencies and industry to co-create solutions for the public sector,” said GovTech CEO Kok Ping Soon. “We are encouraged by agencies’ recognition of 5G as an emerging technology with the potential to unlock new Smart Nation applications and look forward to supporting more trials at 5G@Sentosa.”
Bill Chang, CEO, Group Enterprise at Singtel said, “The trials at Sentosa are the big ramp up in public sector use cases after the launch of Singtel’s islandwide 5G Standalone network. Our common vision with GovTech, Sentosa, and the partnering agencies is to accelerate and develop an exciting 5G eco-system. Singtel’s 5G network and Multi-Access Edge Compute is enabling the deployment of low-latency, business-critical applications, allowing agencies to trial the use of 5G-powered drones and robots, deployment of teleops as well as advanced data analytics capabilities easily and efficiently.”
Singtel has previously signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Ericsson and global industry partners to collaborate on the development and deployment of advanced 5G enterprise solutions in Singapore. The agreement will allow companies to leverage Ericsson’s technology expertise and Singtel’s 5G network, test facilities and capabilities to innovate solutions and scale them up for global deployment.
Singtel launched its 5G SA network in May, via a partnership with Korean company Samsung. The 5G SA sites run on 3.5 GHz spectrum. Singtel is also working with Ericsson in the deployment of its 5G SA network infrastructure.
As part of its 5G SA deployment, Singtel has already deployed over 1,000 5G sites across Singapore in strategic locations such as Orchard Road, the Central Business District, Marina Bay, Harbourfront and Sentosa, as well as major residential areas including Sengkang, Punggol, Pasir Ris, Jurong East and Woodlands.
Singtel had initially launched its 5G Non-Standalone (NSA) network in September of 2020, using spectrum in the 3.5 GHz frequency as well as existing 2.1 GHz spectrum.
