SINGAPORE lags behind in broadband speed, as homes and offices here are not wired with high-speed fibre-optic cables yet, said an industry analyst in response to an Agence France-Presse report last week.
That is despite the nation's 88-per cent household-broadband penetration rate - the world's second highest, according to a study by United Statesbased marketing and research company Strategy Analytics.
In last week's report, Singapore was ranked a mere 24th in download speed and 51st in upload speed by a global broadband analysis site at www.speedtest.net Owned by a United States-based network diagnostic firm, Ookla Net Metrics, the site measures all forms of broadband connectivity, including cable, wireless and mobile.
Mr Adeel Najam, an industry analyst from market-analysis firm Frost & Sullivan, said: "Singapore's speeds lag behind those of top-tier markets like South Korea, Hong Kong and Japan because it doesn't have fibre-optic cables running directly into users' homes, which are easily capable of reaching 100Mbps."
Unlike Internet users in the abovementioned Asian territories, most fixed broadband users here use DSL (digital subscriber line) and cable modems, and average a speed of around 5.28 Mbps, said Mr Najam.
An Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) spokesman told my paper that upload and download speeds would depend on the service plans consumers subscribe to.
However, Singapore would soon catch up with global leaders with the upcoming Next Generation National Broadband Network, which will utilise fibre-optic cables.
The network will be capable of speeds up to 1Gbps, and 60 per cent of homes and offices will be wired by next year, said IDA.
