1 The Role of Governments in the Future of Voice – Singapore’s Perspective Presented by Melinda Tan 16 January 2007 ITU Workshop- “The Future of Voice”, Jan 2007, Geneva

© IDA Singapore. All Rights Reserved. 2 Global Trend – Increase in Wi-Fi Hotspots & Users “ In the past one year, the number of hotspots in the OECD countries have grown significantly…..this happening globally” Dec 2006, OECD

© IDA Singapore. All Rights Reserved. 3 Global Trend – Increase in Wi-Fi Hotspots & Users “ Wi-Fi hot spots will grow by 47 percent worldwide to 143,700 by the close of Combined, Europe and North America account for 74 percent of the hot spots worldwide. ABI Research expects Asia Pacific to become the new market leader in 2011.” Nov 2006, Wirelessweek

© IDA Singapore. All Rights Reserved. 4 Global Trend – Increase in Wi-Fi Hotspots & Users “There are now about 40 million Wi-Fi users… …which makes Wi-Fi a much faster-growing technology than cellular telephony.” July 2006, NY Times

© IDA Singapore. All Rights Reserved. 5 Singapore – Nationwide Free Wi-Fi Hotspots October September

© IDA Singapore. All Rights Reserved. 6 Global Trend – Increase in Wi-Fi Enabled Phones “In-Stat analysts predict that 132 million of the devices with cellular and Wi-Fi capability phones will be in use by 2010.” - June 2006, ZDNet News “Wi-Fi enabled cell phones will dominate by 2009” – Aug 2005, Strategy Analytics Inc

© IDA Singapore. All Rights Reserved. 7 Global Trend – Free / Cheaper Voice Calls From anywhere in the world to Singapore using Skype phone – US 2.1 cents Local mobile to mobile call – US 14 cents Saving – 76% per minute Eg, International calls made via VOIP are cheaper than traditional local phone calls

© IDA Singapore. All Rights Reserved. 8 The Role of Governments in the Future of Voice – Singapore’s Perspective Establish Light Touch Regulatory framework Promote Competition Educate Consumers/users Facilitate Broadband Infrastructure rollout

© IDA Singapore. All Rights Reserved. 9 Role 1 – Light Touch Regulatory Framework VoIP providers who want 8-digit PSTN numbers (starting with “6”) must adhere to all PSTN rules VOIP providers can also get 8 digit numbers starting with “3”. PSTN rules do NOT apply.

© IDA Singapore. All Rights Reserved. 10 Role 1 – Light Touch Regulatory Framework VOIP providers with 8 digit numbers starting with “3” face fewer rules: No QOS requirements No Emergency services requirement No Retail Price regulation No Number Portability requirements No requirement for VoIP numbers to be tied to Singapore addresses No Directory enquiry and printed directory services requirement No Universal Service contribution No requirements for Backup Power

© IDA Singapore. All Rights Reserved. 11 Role 2 – Promote Competition Anyone can apply for VOIP Licence Allocation of numbers via auction. Regulator will arbitrate Interconnection disputes with PSTN operators A Guide for Interconnection with Dominant Licensees issued

© IDA Singapore. All Rights Reserved. 12 Role 3 – Educate the Consumers/Users VOIP service providers are required to educate customers about the limitations of their VOIP service, eg no support for emergency calls

© IDA Singapore. All Rights Reserved. 13 Role 4 – Facilitate B/B Infrastructure Roll-out Singapore’s Intelligent National in2015 Plan – Next Generation Infocomm Infrastructure (NGNII): Ultra-high-speed, > 1 Gbps island-wide national wired broadband network Pervasive wireless broadband network – Singapore auctioned wireless broadband access spectrum to 6 operators – free national WIFI for three years

© IDA Singapore. All Rights Reserved. 14 The Role of Governments in the Future of Voice – Summary Establish Light Touch Regulatory framework Facilitate Infrastructure rollout Promote Competition Educate Consumers/users

© IDA Singapore. All Rights Reserved. 15 Thank you