Statistics on Telecom Services for 2003 (Jul - Dec)

Please note that figures are updated at the end of each calendar month. Due to compilation reasons, there is a 1-month time-lag. This means that April figures, for example, will only be released at end-May / beginning-June

CATEGORY	JUL	AUG	SEP	OCT	NOV	DEC
Fixed Line Market
Total Number Telephone Lines	1,911,200	1,907,300	1,904,400	1,901,500	1,899,100	1,896,600
Fixed Line Penetration	46.4	46.4	46.3	46.2	46.2	46.1
Mobile Market
Total Mobile subscribers	3,356,000	3,390,300	3,402,200	3,410,700	3,437,300	3,477,100
GSM 900 subscribers	2,416,400	2,425,900	2,425,100	2,431,700	2,442,700	2,458,600
GSM1800 subscribers	939,600	964,400	977,100	979,000	994,600	1,018,500
Total Pre-Paid SIM Card subscribers1	913,500	922,500	927,000	936,500	956,400	981,400
Mobile Phone Penetration	81.6	82.4	82.7	82.9	83.5	84.5
Paging Market2
Total Paging subscribers	210,600	205,000	196,000	186,700	181,700	174,200
Numeric subscribers	144,500	139,700	132,800	125,400	121,400	115,100
Alphanumeric subscribers	66,100	65,300	63,300	61,300	60,300	59,200
Paging Penetration	5.1	5.0	4.8	4.5	4.4	4.2
Internet Market
Total Internet Dial-up subscribers3	1,817,900	1,813,400	1,811,200	1,806,700	1,801,500	1,796,200
Internet Dial-up Penetration	44.2	44.1	44.0	43.9	43.8	43.7
Total Internet Leased Circuit subscribers	3,100	3,100	3,000	3,000	3,000	2,900
Broadband Market
Total Broadband subscribers	329,300	341,500	352,600	361,200	371,800	390,000
Total xDSL subscribers	202,100	210,000	217,100	224,400	231,400	239,800
Total Cable subscribers	127,200	131,500	135,500	136,800	140,300	150,200
Household penetration4	28.4	29.4	30.5	31.2	31.7	33.3
International Telephone Service5
No. of International Telephone call minutes	235.66 million	251.67 million	257.38 million	288.98 million	269.24 million	276.53 million
Trunked Radio Services
Total Trunked Radio subscribers	51,600	51,200	51,000	51,000	51,100	50,600
Analogue subscribers	1,200	0	0	0	0	0
Digital subscribers	50,400	51,200	51,000	51,000	51,100	50,600
Mobile Data Services6
Total Mobile Data subscribers	15,600	15,600	15,600	15,600	15,700	15,600

Penetration rate figures from June 2003 onwards have been re-computed, taking into account the revised population figures recently released by the Department of Statistics.

With effect from Jan 2001, we have begun to use total population instead of total residential population as a population base for the calculation of penetration rates for telecom services. Total residential population was previously used because historically, the take-up of telecom services by foreign workers was typically low. With the government's recent efforts in promoting foreign talent, the profile of the foreign worker has changed. Specifically, there has been a marked increase in the subscription to telecom services by "non-residential" foreigners. It is therefore timely to adopt the total population figure as a population base in calculating penetration rates to give a more accurate picture of the various telecom market segments.

All subscriber figures rounded to the nearest hundred.
All penetration figures rounded to the nearest decimal point.
Penetration rates are computed based on the total population figures released by the Department of Statistics.

Please note that the fall in internet dialup subscribers from July 2003 onwards is a result of a database correction of an Internet Service Provider, to remove from its system discontinued dial-up internet accounts for the period of Sep '00 - Jul '03 that were not previously deleted.

Please note that the fall in Internet dialup subscribers from May 2001 onwards is a result of a database correction of an Internet Service Provider, to remove from its system discontinued dial-up Internet accounts for the period of Dec '99 - Aug '00 that were not previously deleted.

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¹ The pre-paid SIM card subscriber base figures are included in the total number of mobile phone subscribers as well as in the total number of GSM900 and GSM1800 subscriber bases.

² Paging figures from Jan 99 onwards have been re-computed based on updated data information.

³ The Internet Dial-up Penetration figures includes: (i) subscribers to paid Internet access service for all IASPs, including ISDN dial-up subscribers; and (ii) subscribers to free Internet access. Following full telecom market liberalisation, the number of IASPs have increased considerably. Starting Jan 2001, the published figures on the internet dial-up market include contributions from such new IASPs.

⁴ Total Households refers to total addresses (housing units) in Singapore, excluding shophouses and zine-roofed/attap houses. This figure is computed using the total number of residential subscribers on a per household basis. The number of households is obtained from the latest figures available from the Department of Statistics.     

⁵ Following full liberalisation of the telecommunications market, Singapore's international services market has grown considerably both in diversity of services available as well as in the number of operators offering international telephone services. As Singapore continues to develop as a hub for international voice traffic, including transit and regional traffic in our published statistics will provide a more holistic picture of the vibrancy and growth of the entire international telephone services market in Singapore. For comparison purposes, figures from previous years will also be adjusted accordingly. This change has been applied retroactively from Jan 2001. Furthermore, starting from Jan 2001, traffic from other service providers such as ISR operators has also been included.

⁶ Mobile data services refer to services provided by licensees that offer Public Mobile Data Services (PMDS) under their Facilities-Based Operator (FBO) licence. Subscribers to such PMDS services include fleet management companies, dispatch service agencies etc.