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Singapore Telecommunications Limited (SingTel) will be deploying a wireless fidelity (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, a Cisco Certified Gold Partner, 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 enables SingTel to provide broadband-based services to a large area where no wired network is available. With the Cisco Unified Wireless Network, which includes a broad range of wireless devices and centralized management components, SingTel can also manage both their indoor and outdoor Wi-Fi hotspots centrally, reducing management costs and complexities.
"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 unique Cisco Adaptive Wireless Path Protocol provides the key intelligence for effectively running Cisco Wi-Fi mesh networks. Just as routers serve as traffic-management systems for wired networks, so 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. This is where Cisco's routing expertise comes into play. 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.
About SingTel
SingTel is Asia's leading communications company with operations and investments in more than 20 countries and territories around the world. Serving both the corporate and consumer markets, it is committed to bringing the best of global communications to customers in the Asia Pacific and beyond. For more information, visit www.singtel.com
About NCS Group
NCS Group is a leading information technology (IT) and communications engineering services provider with about 4,000 staff located in 10 countries across the Asia Pacific and Middle East regions. With proven expertise in consulting, development, systems integration and infrastructure management and solutions, gained while serving government and commercial organisations across the region, NCS delivers end-to-end support for every organisation's technology needs. NCS is headquartered in Singapore and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the SingTel Group. For more information, please visit http://www.ncs.com.sg
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