Singapore's telco giants StarHub and Singtel will be having a showdown in the upcoming National Day on August 9 as the two deploy their latest data technologies for their mobile customers.
StarHub mobile customers who will be celebrating at the National Day Parade around The Float@Marina Bay will be given the chance to try the telco's latest 4G equipment.
Utilising the 2.5GHz TDD-LTE spectrum secured at the earlier auction, StarHub's upgrade will see the size of its data expressways that carry customers' data traffic boosted by 30%.
StarHub Chief Technology Officer Chong Siew Loong said the TDD-LTE deployment will enable the group to improve the experience of customers with 4G connection.
"In the meantime, we are carrying out final rounds of optimisation to ensure our customers can enjoy the best possible experience as they broadcast their happy NDP moments to family and friends," he told the media.
He assured that by the end of the year, StarHub customers will be able to enjoy better service quality in more areas such as the Central Business District, Chinatown, Clarke Quay and Orchard Road.
Next year, coverage will be expanded to other key areas like transport hubs and town centres. On the other hand, Singtel will roll out its Massive MIMO.
(Multiple-Input Multiple-Output) technology commercially on its LTE-Advanced mobile, enhancing mobile data speed experience by up to 200%.
Singtel will team up with Ericsson, Huawei and ZTE to deploy Massive MIMO at the Marina Bay Area. Over 150,000 people are expected to be provided with the service.
The telco will utilise Massive MIMO base stations featuring a large array of 64 antennas that improve spectral efficiency and cell capacity using innovations in radio technologies.
"On the joyous occasion of our National Day celebrations, Singtel is pleased to be pairing our newly-acquired 2.5GHz
spectrum with Massive MIMO technology to expand our network capacity and offer our customers an enhanced mobile experience at this and other special events," Singtel Group Chief Technology Officer Mark Chong said in a statement.
He added that there are plans to deploy the same technology during the Singapore F1 Night Race and in the New Year's Eve.
