Usage and Cost of Maintaining Wireless@SG System
Ministry of Home AffairsSpeakers
Summary
This question concerns the usage and maintenance costs of Wireless@SG, with Assoc Prof Jamus Jerome Lim inquiring about login statistics and potential phase-out plans. Minister for Communications and Information Josephine Teo reported that between 2018 and 2022, the system averaged 1.8 million monthly unique logins, 98% of which were by residents. She clarified that while the government provides periodic funding for security and bandwidth enhancements, the primary costs are sustained by operators and venue owners. The Minister emphasized that the system remains a sustainable platform for public connectivity in high-footfall areas like hawker centres and libraries. The program is expected to continue so long as venue owners see value in providing free Wi-Fi services through the existing harmonized platform.
Transcript
30 Assoc Prof Jamus Jerome Lim asked the Minister for Communications and Information (a) for each of the past 10 years, what is the usage rate, in terms of unique logins, for Wireless@SG; and (b) what is the share of resident versus non-resident usage for each of those years respectively.
31 Assoc Prof Jamus Jerome Lim asked the Minister for Communications and Information (a) what is the cost of maintaining the Wireless@SG system annually; and (b) given advances in mobile data technology and usage, whether there are plans for the eventual phase-out of the system.
Mrs Josephine Teo: Wireless@SG complements Singapore's fixed and mobile connectivity services. The key difference between Wireless@SG and other Wi-Fi services is that Wireless@SG provides a harmonised platform for the public to seamlessly access free Wi-Fi services across all participating Wireless@SG operators. It is typically deployed at public locations with higher footfall or where people tend to congregate for longer periods, for example, hawker centres, community centres, libraries and shopping malls, to support our increasing connectivity needs. From 2018 to 2022, there were an average of 1.8 million unique logins per month, 98% of which were by residents1.
When the Wireless@SG programme was launched in 2006, IMDA had provided some initial funding support to Wireless@SG operators to defray one-time capital costs and encourage widespread deployment. Today, interested venue owners can contract with any of the four appointed Wireless@SG operators – Singtel, StarHub, M1 and SIMBA. Although IMDA may provide periodic funding to enhance the security and bandwidth of Wireless@SG, the main financial costs are carried by the operators and venue owners who pay for the deployment as well as ongoing maintenance and upgrades of the Wi-Fi hotspots. This arrangement is sustainable and can continue so long as venue owners see value in providing free Wi-Fi services for their customers through the convenient log-in access provided by Wireless@SG operators.