SINGTEL has decided to extend its two high-speed Internet trials in Singapore by another six months, in a clear sign that the company is still in the thick of a broadband arms race with rival StarHub.

The telco first started experimenting with the feasibility of deploying alternative broadband technologies to boost access speeds last year. Residents at Leonie Hills Residences off River Valley Road are involved in SingTel's FTTH (fibre to the home) trials where fibre-optic cables are used to provide ultra high-speed Internet access.

Besides FTTH, the operator is also experimenting with Metro Ethernet technology through a pilot at The Gardens condominium in Bishan. These two trials were scheduled to end last month but a SingTel spokesman said they have now been extended to the end of this year. He declined to provide reasons for the extension but the outcome of these trials will definitely shape the firm's broadband strategy in the long run.

SingTel recently raised eyebrows when it stopped selling its premium 25 Mbps (megabits per second) Internet access package as a standalone product, choosing instead to bundle it alongside other services. Citing low demand as a reason for the decision, the company maintained that most consumers do not require blazing speeds at this point. This is because the majority of websites accessed by local users are hosted overseas and this means that full download speeds cannot be achieved most of the time.

'Our FTTH technical trial is running smoothly and we are comfortable with the technology. We believe that to offer very high broadband speeds at this juncture would be premature, as the current infrastructure does not allow users to access content at such rapid speeds,' the SingTel spokesman told BizIT.

This appears to go against the current trend where Internet service providers across the world are scrambling to fatten their pipes to cope with bandwidth-sapping applications like Internet TV and online gaming. In Singapore, StarHub launched its 100Mbps broadband plan last year and upgrades are underway to bump this up to 160Mbps in the near future.

Unlike the HFC (hybrid fibre coaxial) technology used by StarHub, SingTel relies on ADSL (asymmetric digital subscriber line) to power its broadband services through traditional phone lines. ADSL tops off at 25Mbps, while HFC is still being enhanced for greater speeds.

Market watchers believe that there is a clear need for SingTel to consider other means of raising access speeds, especially after the recent launch of its mio TV service since it taps on broadband to deliver a stable of 33 pay-television channels. Increased bandwidth will ensure that consumers will be able to use multiple applications like Internet TV, Web surfing and Net telephony concurrently without impacting service quality.

Now, SingTel has confirmed that plans to bump up its broadband speeds are indeed on the horizon. 'We have definite plans to roll out the (FTTH) technology when the time is right, that is when there is content to allow these speeds to be utilised,' the company said. And the firm has already laid some foundation for its future ambitions. Singapore's largest telco currently owns a sizeable underground fibre-optic network in Singapore and its newer mio modems are equipped with fibre connectors to support FTTH.

In addition, SingTel is among the 12 groups bidding for the right to build and operate Singapore's next-generation broadband network, which aims to deliver 1Gbps (gigabit per second) Internet access to the bulk of local homes and offices by 2012.