Singapore Invests Heavily In E-Commerce & Broadband

Singapore is rapidly developing the infrastructure for broadband and home grown e-commerce capabilities, according to Michael Yap, the new chief executive of the country’s quasi-governmental National Computer Board (NCB).

“Singapore is well-positioned in these two areas,” said Yap in his keynote speech at Internet World Asia@Singapore. “We have invested heavily in both e-commerce and broadband and have built a strong foundation.”

For broadband, NCB has its flagship project, Singapore ONE, which provides broadband network access to a staggering 98 percent of homes, all schools, and 42 libraries and community centers in Singapore.

With S$150 million ($88 million) invested, Singapore One is driving an emerging industry of e-business service providers delivering 150 different types of applications, said Yap.

Currently, Singapore ONE has 55,000 registered users. NCB plans to expand this by targeting the mass consumer market through provider-funded advertising on TV and in print and through a massive education campaign that will train 100,000 consumers over 12-18 months how to use the Internet.

At the end of the day, consumers and business will determine the success of the industry, Yap pointed out. “It’s the government’s role to remove barriers and provide the best infrastructure.”

“We will work with Singapore ONE service providers to aggressively expand their services into broadband markets overseas, ” added Yap.

Singapore ONE already has a partnership with @Home to deliver Singapore e-business services to the American network’s 330,000 subscribers.

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