Written answer by Ministry of National Development on development of HDB new towns with digitally ready and 5G-capable flats

Mar 4, 2024

Question No: 5576

Question by: Mr Shawn Huang Wei Zhong

To ask the Minister for National Development (a) what are the technological or infrastructural challenges in the development of new towns that are digitally ready to enable 5G capabilities in the design of new HDB flats; (b) what are the plans of the Ministry to ensure these flats can be retrofitted to support 5G technology in the future; and (c) whether the Ministry collaborates with telecommunication companies to address shortfall in 5G capabilities in new HDB flats and, if so, what are the outcomes of these collaborations.

Answer:

          A comprehensive 5G mobile network will require denser deployment of mobile infrastructure compared to the 3G and 4G networks, due to the shorter propagation characteristics of high bandwidth 5G spectrum. Hence, more space in building premises will be required for 5G mobile infrastructure. To support the timely rollout of 5G mobile networks for Singapore, MND/HDB and MCI/IMDA have been working together to coordinate and facilitate 5G infrastructure deployments by telcos in HDB towns.