SingTel to Deploy Wi-Fi Mesh Network in the North Region of Singapore

Singapore Telecommunications Limited (SingTel) will be deploying a Wi-Fi mesh network from Cisco in the North region of Singapore. SingTel's proposal to deliver seamless public-access wireless broadband services was accepted by the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA). The project is part of the Singapore government's Wireless@SG initiative to extend the broadband experience for its citizens outside of homes and offices to virtually every part of the country. SingTel's wholly owned subsidiary NCS is managing the implementation of the network.

SingTel aims to deploy more than 2,400 hotspots by May 2007. In Wi-Fi mesh networks, many of the access points are not physically connected to a wired network. The access points create a mesh that routes back to the network. This configuration will enable SingTel to provide broadband-based services to a large area where no wired network is available.

"The SingTel, NCS and Cisco collaboration will draw on the strengths of each of the parties. SingTel's experience and commitment, NCS' expertise and Cisco's technology leadership are a strong combination that will help enable high-quality Wi-Fi services for our customers," said Allen Lew, CEO of SingTel (Singapore). "We selected Cisco's Wi-Fi mesh technology because it delivers performance and reliability while being highly scalable and easy to deploy. The solution uses well-established standards and offers a substantially reduced risk, cost and time to market."

In the first phase of the Wi-Fi network rollout, Cisco Aironet 1500 Series lightweight outdoor mesh access points will be attached to city buildings and streetlights to provide four square miles of coverage. To reduce management costs and centralize network monitoring, SingTel will use Cisco 4400 Series Wireless LAN Controllers and the Cisco Wireless Control System.

The Cisco Aironet 1500 Series access points use sophisticated mathematical algorithms to decide the optimal ways to route traffic from access point to access point and back to the main wired network. The protocol helps traffic avoid congested nodes, offering Wi-Fi networks a "self-healing" capability. Just as with wired networks, the quality of a Wi-Fi mesh network boils down to the ability of the equipment to route traffic intelligently, efficiently and dependably.

"This project further deepens Cisco's relationship with SingTel and gives us an opportunity to continue to develop our contribution to the Singapore government's iN2015 (Intelligent Nation 2015) masterplan. Wi-Fi mesh networks are ideal for Wireless@SG deployments because they are easy to deploy and maintain. Many of our municipality and city council customers from around the world cite low costs, central management, multiband wireless device support, security and breadth of service as the main benefits of Wi-Fi mesh networks. This enables them to provide their citizens with the platform to extend their life's experience on the human network anytime, anywhere," said Craig Gledhill, Cisco's managing director for Singapore and Brunei.