Resiliency of Key Telecommunication Networks and Services against Massive Outages
Ministry of Home AffairsSpeakers
Summary
This question concerns Mr Sitoh Yih Pin’s inquiry regarding the resiliency of Singapore’s telecommunication networks and measures to prevent massive outages. Minister Josephine Teo stated that providers must meet standards of 99% mobile outdoor coverage and 99.9% fibre broadband availability while incorporating failover capabilities and infrastructure diversity. To ensure compliance, networks undergo regular audits against international standards, and providers are required to restore services quickly or face financial penalties and fee waivers. Although regulations enhance resilience, Minister Josephine Teo noted that they cannot eliminate all risks, making system-level diversity through multiple providers essential for national connectivity. Consequently, businesses and end users are encouraged to prepare for contingencies by leveraging the variety of available networks and service providers to meet their specific needs.
Transcript
45 Mr Sitoh Yih Pin asked the Minister for Communications and Information in view of the recent Optus network outage in Australia (a) what is the assessment of the resiliency of Singapore's key telecommunication networks and services; and (b) what measures have been implemented to prevent such massive network outages in Singapore.
Mrs Josephine Teo: Telecommunication networks and services are essential to the public and businesses, enabling communication and connectivity between people and businesses. Singapore's key fixed and mobile telecommunication networks are required to be designed for resilience with high availability, on par with international standards. Key telecommunication service providers are also required to uphold service quality standards, such as: (a) providing nationwide outdoor service coverage of at least 99% for mobile services; and (b) ensuring network availability of at least 99.9% for fibre broadband services. They have consistently met these requirements.
These providers are also required to conduct continuous regular audits in areas like their infrastructure, processes and business continuity plans to ensure that the resilience of their networks is on par with industry standards and international best practices, for example, those set by global bodies, such as the International Telecommunication Union and International Organization for Standardization. They have consistently achieved a high level of compliance for past audits for both fixed and mobile networks.
To achieve a high level of resilience, critical network components of each fixed and mobile network are built with failover capabilities and diversity, to minimise widespread service disruptions. At the system level, resilience is further achieved through a diversity of networks, with multiple service providers offering a variety of mobile, broadband and public wi-fi services.
Should service disruptions occur, telecommunication service providers are expected to restore services quickly, undertake rectification measures to prevent recurrences and offer appropriate measures, such as fee waivers, to mitigate the impact on affected users. Financial penalties may also be imposed on telecommunication service providers found responsible for the service disruptions.
That said, regulations and penalties cannot fully eliminate the possibility of service disruptions. Businesses and end users should plan and prepare for contingencies by leveraging upon the diversity of networks or service providers, based on their needs.