As ICT traffic grows, we continue to invest in building out and enhancing our networks to deliver seamless, high-speed global connectivity to our customers.
We expanded our global coverage to 370 points of presence in 325 cities across the world through a partnership with our regional associate, Airtel.
The combined network is the largest Internet Protocol Virtual Private Network (IP VPN) in the Asia Pacific.
We are also leading a consortium to build a new 9,000-kilometre INDIGO submarine cable (formerly known as APX-West) linking Singapore, Jakarta (Indonesia), and Perth and Sydney (Australia). Once completed in mid-2019, it will expand data connectivity and capacity between Singapore and Australia, providing network redundancy and low latency. This will allow us to meet the growing demand for bandwidth-intensive applications such as unified communications and enterprise data exchange.
The demand for cloud services is steadily growing as enterprises seek to transform their business processes and models for the speed, agility and efficiency that they need in today’s digital economy.
We added a suite of hybrid cloud solutions, including the Data Centre and Cloud Connect (DC Connect) service, to cater to enterprises requiring both the easy scalability afforded by the public cloud, and the improved security and control of a private cloud. With DC Connect, enterprises can easily access and seamlessly move their workloads between multiple data centres and various cloud services through a single connection. This enables them to build a hybrid cloud environment where they can shift the mix between public and private clouds according to their business priorities.
As enterprises and governments transform themselves in the digital space, they also need to protect themselves against cyber threats which are growing in frequency and sophistication.
In the past year, we focused on developing a comprehensive cyber ecosystem by strengthening our cyber expertise and expanding our global cyber network.
We established the NUS-Singtel Cyber Security R&D Lab with the National University of Singapore. This collaboration allows us to conduct research into next-generation cyber security technologies which are based on data analytics, machine learning for automatic detection of cyber attacks, and tamper-proof encryption techniques over the next five years. The facility, which is supported by the National Research Foundation, will train 120 new cyber security R&D professionals from undergraduate to postdoctoral level. It will also develop intellectual property that can be commercialised through our global network of product engineering and development centres.
We launched the Optus Advanced Security Operations Centre (ASOC) in Sydney, Australia, and we will soon operate a new ASOC in Tokyo, Japan. The two centres add to our existing global network of seven ASOCs which monitor cyber threats round the clock, help enterprises build cyber resilience and protect their critical infrastructure. Trustwave, our cyber security arm, provides managed security services, including comprehensive threat intelligence, threat data analytics, and advanced security automation for incident response, backed by its elite SpiderLabs team. We also partnered our regional associate Globe to provide managed security services in the Philippines. The services will be delivered through Globe’s ASOC in Manila, which will be powered by Trustwave.
We set up the Singtel Cyber Security Institute in Singapore. Our advanced cyber range and educational institute is the first of its kind in the region to provide holistic training for company boards, management, and technology and operations personnel to deal with cyber attacks.
As cities grow, city planners increasingly recognise that cities need to be smart and sustainable to overcome the attendant environmental, economic and social challenges. They rely on smart technology solutions for the efficient and effective delivery of public services, better traffic management, and a safer home and living environment.
In Singapore, we support the country’s vision of becoming the world’s first Smart Nation by 2025 with our advanced capabilities in smart city operating platforms, data analytics and agile application development. These capabilities are being deployed in a number of areas, including urban infrastructure, transport, healthcare and public safety.
Following our winning bid in early 2016 to deliver a next-generation Electronic Road Pricing system for the Land Transport Authority, we scored a significant contract with the Housing & Development Board (HDB) to develop a blueprint for smart HDB towns of the future under the Smart Urban Habitat Masterplan, and a Smart Hub intelligent analytics and data platform. With more than 80% of Singapore’s population living in public housing, this will help the HDB to enhance the planning, design and management of public housing estates, to create a more conducive and sustainable urban environment.
In Australia, we are rolling out smart retail WiFi services at Vicinity Centres’ 81 shopping centres and six corporate offices, as well as property group Mirvac’s flagship shopping centres. More than 120 major malls now use these services to deliver personalised content and improve the shopping experience for their customers.
Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are the bedrock of the Singapore economy, accounting for 99% of all registered businesses. To help SMEs evolve and connect with increasingly digital-savvy consumers, we launched 99%SME in 2015, a five-year campaign to spur the adoption of digital technologies. Digitalisation will enable SMEs to increase productivity, reduce staff workload, improve customer experience and reach new customers.
The second year of the campaign focused on encouraging SMEs to adopt e-commerce and cashless solutions. More than 2,500 SMEs signed up in 2016, up from 1,670 in 2015. The campaign rallied consumers across Singapore to buy SME products and services through year-round promotions on the dedicated 99%SME website and shop at participating stores during a 10-day 99%SME Week.
We partnered online shopping website Lazada Singapore to launch a 99%SME e-marketplace, which provides SMEs with an online marketing platform to reach a wider audience. We also collaborated with two polytechnics in Singapore – Nanyang Polytechnic and Singapore Polytechnic – to train SMEs in the retail and food and beverage sectors to use tools and resources to get online, establish e-commerce capabilities and to market themselves more effectively.
