**Stephen Myers**, Principal Analyst, Service Provider Strategy & Regulations
Singapore is one of the most advanced telecom markets in the world, a status achieved through well-targeted regulatory support over the years.
The country’s telecom regulator, the Infocomm Media Development Agency (IMDA), has: released its 5G policy strategy; assigned 5G spectrum licenses in the 3.5GHz, 26/28GHz, and 2.1GHz bands; introduced a new IoT Cyber Security Guide; and amended the Personal Data Protection Bill (PDPA) 2012, among others. It has also proposed a new regulation (called the “Code”) for all telecom and media service providers in the country.
The Code aims to promote fair and efficient competition, and boost consumer protection. It covers dominance and anti-competitive conduct rules, consumer protection rules, merger and acquisition (M&A), resource-sharing rules, and telecom interconnection rules, among others.
Furthermore, the IMDA intends to focus more on wholesale and resale tariffs, and less on retail tariffs. It proposed to modify the current tariff-filing review regime.
As per the proposal, the dominant operators will not be required to seek the regulator’s prior approval for most retail service tariffs. This will provide regulatory relief to dominant operators compared to the current regime. The Code was expected to be finalized in 2021. However, a final decision was pending at the time of writing.
The country has moved toward an all-fiber broadband market. Singtel migrated all its cable customers in 2018. Moreover, StarHub migrated all its cable TV and broadband subscribers to fiber by the end of 2019. The country also switched fully to digital TV signals on January 1, 2019.
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Stephen Myers, Principal Analyst– Service Provider Strategy & Regulations Wednesday 1 June 2022 | 13:30-13:40
Stephen Myers, Principal Analyst– Service Provider Strategy & Regulations Friday 3 June 2022 | 13:00-13:30