Singtel Unveils 5G Standalone Trial Network for Enterprise in Singapore

Singtel has deployed the nation’s first 5G standalone (SA) trial network at its 5G Garage testing facility. The network, which utilises 3.5GHz spectrum and Ericsson’s advanced Massive MIMO (Multiple-input multiple-output) technology to deliver ultra-fast speeds and low-latency or response times, provides enterprises with early access to 5G to develop and trial 5G solutions.

Bill Chang, Chief Executive Officer of Group Enterprise at Singtel said, “COVID-19 has brought a new urgency to digital transformation for many sectors. Having unveiled our first 5G use case with our 24/7 unmanned pop-up retail store in September, our 5G SA trial network offers enterprises from across industries the opportunity to develop and test applications to accelerate automation and digitalisation. With 5G’s low latency and scalability, enterprises can not only drive efficiencies and make better and more cost-effective decisions but also deliver richer customer experiences. The launch of this 5G SA trial network is also an important step as we get ready for commercial 5G SA. We welcome enterprises to harness the power of 5G to future-proof their businesses and catalyse their digital transformation at 5G Garage.”

Global cloud gaming provider, Ubitus, is the first enterprise to use Singtel’s 5G SA network for a 5G cloud gaming trial. The trial demonstrated a 5G cloud gaming experience that consistently delivered 85% lower latency of between 8 to 11 milliseconds compared to cloud gaming on 4G. It was conducted on Singtel’s multi-access edge computing (MEC) platform which integrates 5G’s ultra-low latency and high bandwidth capabilities with powerful cloud computing performance. This allows rich graphics to be processed on dedicated servers and transferred directly to devices, significantly cutting lag times, which is critical to the gaming experience.

“We are very excited with the potential of Singtel’s 5G SA and MEC to push the envelope on cloud gaming. The trials will inform our designs for exciting games which will test gamers’ reflexes and instincts. We will leverage the ultra-low latency of 5G and MEC to offer immersive, hyper-realistic gaming experience,” said Wesley Kuo, Ubitus’ Chief Executive Officer.

5G and MEC’s ability to integrate with technologies such as Internet of Things, analytics, robotics, artificial intelligence and augmented, virtual or mixed reality enables enterprises across industries to leverage the low latency in applications requiring little or no lag times.

These include remote surgery, smart manufacturing, autonomous driving, remote robotic repair and maintenance and virtual reality-enabled live concerts. By removing the need for data to be sent all the way to public clouds to be processed and sent back, MEC is not only able to better serve mission critical data connectivity, it also enables enterprises to optimise their total cost of ownership for hosting, dedicated link provisioning and data transfer.

Since the launch of 5G Garage with Ericsson and Singapore Polytechnic in January 2019, Singtel has successfully developed ten 5G use cases together with more than 20 start-ups and enterprises in areas such as robotics, virtual reality, artificial intelligence and drones. Singtel has also collaborated with PSA to trial maritime 5G use cases to optimise port operations at the future Tuas Port. In addition, Singtel is working with the Agency for Science, Technology and Research’s Advanced Remanufacturing and Technology Centre, and JTC to enable enterprises to develop and test advanced 5G-powered manufacturing solutions.

Singtel’s 5G SA cloud gaming trial follows the recent unveiling of UNBOXED, its 5G-powered unmanned pop-up retail store and the launch of Singtel’s 5G NSA network trial that offers consumer and enterprise customers an early taste of ultra-fast 5G mobile speeds.