When fully functioning by 2015, the network will deliver speeds of up to 1Gbps and beyond.

The Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) will provide a grant of up to S$250 million dollars to the successful company that will design, build and operate the active infrastructure of Singapore's Next Generation National Broadband Network (Next Gen NBN).

The IDA issued a Request for Proposal (RFP) on 7 April 2008 to invite interested parties to bid to become the Operating Company (OpCo) of the network. By 2010, Singaporeans will be able to experience high-definition video conferencing, telemedicine, grid computing-on-demand and immersive learning applications on the Next Gen NBN. When fully functioning by 2015, the network will deliver ultra-high speeds of up to 1 Gbps and beyond.

The OpCo will sell wholesale bandwidth capacity to Retail Service Providers (RSPs) who in turn will provide Next Generation services to end-consumers. The OpCo will play an important role in bringing about a more competitive and vibrant broadband market by providing RSPs with open acceess to Next Gen NBN's active infrastructure. RSPs will then be able to enjoy competitive wholesale prices which will translate into competitive end-user prices.

In order to ensure that all RSPs have effective open access to the infrastructure, the RFP requires that the OpCo be operationally separated from other operating companies and downstream operators such as RSPs. In addition, the OpCo will need to achieve adoption targets of 330,000 residential and 80,000 non-residential subscribers by 2015. It will also be subject to price control and universal service obligations.

So far, 11 companies have been pre-qualified for the bid. They are Alcatel-Lucent, Axia NetMedia, BT Singapore, City Telecom (HK), Deutsche Telekom Asia, MobileOne, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone West, Nokia Siemens Networks, Singapore Computer Systems, Singapore Telecommunications and StarHub. The tender will be awarded by the first quarter of next year.

In all, the Government will spend S$1 billion on the Next Gen NBN. On top of the S$250 million for the OpCo, the Government previously pledged S$750 million to the company that will design, build and operate the passive infrastructure layer of the network (NetCo). "We believe that this will catalyse significant private sector investment," said Ms Yong Ying-I, Chairman of IDA. The RFP for the NetCo was issued last December and results of this tender are expected to be announced in the third quarter of this year.

Elaborating on the benefits of the Next Gen NBN, she said business users would benefit from ready access to a robust and pervasive network that can support data-intensive transactions such as real-life high-definition video conferencing and graphics-based data visualisation. Small and medium enterprises would be able to tap on grid computing applications and data storage facilities at competitive rates while students would be able to make use of visually immersive and interactive learning applications for a richer and deeper educational experience.