Singapore
Opensignal is the independent global standard for analyzing consumers' connectivity experiences. Our industry reports are the definitive guide to understanding what happens when people use their mobile and broadband connections in their daily life.
Singapore
Opensignal is the independent global standard for analyzing consumers' connectivity experiences. Our industry reports are the definitive guide to understanding what happens when people use their mobile and broadband connections in their daily life.
Key Findings
Our StarHub users had the best overall experience in Singapore
StarHub has achieved an impressive feat — winning all five awards for the overall experience of our users. This means that StarHub users had the best experience when streaming mobile video, playing multiplayer games and using over-the-top voice apps over cellular connections. StarHub users also observed the fastest download and upload speeds in Singapore.
The most consistent experience is with StarHub
StarHub has replaced Singtel as the outright winner of both the Excellent Consistent Quality and the Core Consistent Quality award. StarHub wins Excellent Consistent Quality with a score of 83.1% and a lead of 1.6 percentage points over second placed Singtel. For Core Consistent Quality, StarHub’s score of 92.2% beats Singtel’s by 1.9 percentage points.
StarHub has the fastest overall experience
StarHub wins both awards for the overall average speeds observed by our users in Singapore. It wins Download Speed Experience with a score of 81.1 Mbps — 11.7 Mbps (16.8%) faster than second placed Singtel’s 69.4 Mbps. StarHub also wins Upload Speed Experience, as our StarHub users reported average upload speeds of 14.7 Mbps, 0.7 Mbps (5.1%) ahead of second placed M1’s 14 Mbps.
Users’ download speeds have risen sharply across three out of four operators
Since the previous report, the average download speeds seen by our StarHub, Singtel and M1 users have increased significantly. Our StarHub users saw the largest improvement – 15.2 Mbps (23%) — followed by Singtel and M1 users with increases of 12.9 Mbps (22.8%) and 4.5 Mbps (11.5%) respectively. In contrast, our SIMBA users did not see a statistically significant change in their average download speeds.
StarHub knocks Singtel off the top spot for Video Experience
StarHub is the new outright winner of the Video Experience award after statistically tying with Singtel in the previous report. StarHub wins with a score of 70.1 points on a 100 point scale and a lead of four points over Singtel’s 66.1 points. StarHub’s solo victory was driven by a three point increase in its score, while Singtel’s was statistically unchanged.
Mobile Experience Awards
Market Overview
StarHub dominates the mobile network experience in Singapore, as the operator wins seven out of nine awards outright and is a joint winner for the remaining two (Availability and 4G Coverage Experience). This is in stark contrast to the previous report, when Singtel and StarHub both both won two awards outright along with five joint wins.
M1 announced in September 2022 that all of its mobile plans for new or re-contracting subscribers will come with access to its 5G standalone access (SA) network. The operator deactivated its 5G non-standalone access network at the end of the first quarter of 2022.
In July 2022, Singtel said that it had achieved over 95% coverage with its SA network, including in more than 1,300 outdoor locations and in over 400 in-building areas.
M1 is rolling out SA coverage along Singapore’s southern coast, including the surrounding waters of the southern islands. The network will be used to trial, develop and deploy maritime 5G use cases. M1 is collaborating with the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) and the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA).
In this report, we have analyzed the mobile network experience of Singapore’s four national operators — M1, Singtel, StarHub and SIMBA — in the 90 day period starting on August 1, 2022 and ending on October 29, 2022, to see how they measure up. We have used 5G measurements in addition to those from previous generations of mobile network technology when determining the overall scores for each metric.
Overall Experience
National Analysis
Our StarHub users had the best experience when streaming mobile video in Singapore. StarHub is the new outright winner of the Video Experience award after being a joint winner alongside Singtel in the last report. StarHub scored 70.1 points on a 100 point scale, giving it a lead of four points over Singtel’s 66.1 points. StarHub’s solo victory was driven by a three point increase in its score, while Singtel’s was statistically unchanged. M1 and SIMBA remain in third and fourth place, respectively, with scores of 62.3 and 50.1 points.
Both StarHub and Singtel have continued to place in the Very Good (65-75) category — while M1 and Simba have maintained their Good (55-65) and Fair (40-55) ratings from the previous report, respectively.
Definitions
Opensignal’s Video Experience quantifies the quality of video streamed to mobile devices by measuring real-world video streams over an operator's networks. The metric is based on an International Telecommunication Union (ITU) approach, built upon detailed studies which have derived a relationship between technical parameters, including picture quality, video loading time and stall rate, with the perceived video experience as reported by real people. To calculate video experience, we are directly measuring video streams from end-user devices and using this ITU approach to quantify the overall video experience for each operator on a scale from 0 to 100. The videos tested include a mixture of resolutions — including Full HD (FHD) and 4K / Ultra HD (UHD) — and are streamed directly from the world’s largest video content providers.
In addition to Video Experience, we report on the following metrics related to video experience:
- 5G Video Experience: The average Video Experience of Opensignal users when they were connected to an operator’s 5G network.
- Video Experience – 5G Users: The average Video Experience of Opensignal users with a 5G device and a 5G subscription across an operator's networks. It factors in 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G video experience along with the availability of each technology.
- 4G Video Experience: The average Video Experience of Opensignal users on an operator's 4G network.
- 3G Video Experience: The average Video Experience of Opensignal users on an operator’s 3G network.
National Analysis
>StarHub remains the outright winner of the Games Experience award. This means that our StarHub users had the best experience when playing multiplayer mobile games over cellular connections. StarHub wins this time with a score of 82.6 points on a 100 point scale, giving it a lead of 3.1 points over second placed Singtel’s 79.5 points. M1 is in third place with 78.1 points, while SIMBA continues to lag behind its more established rivals with a score of 61.6 points. StarHub, Singtel and M1 have once again placed in the Good (75-85) category for Games Experience, while SIMBA has kept its Poor (40-65) rating.
A Good rating means that most users deemed the experience acceptable. The gameplay experience was generally controllable and the user received immediate feedback between their actions and the outcomes in the game. Most users did not experience a delay between their actions and the game.
Users’ experience when playing multiplayer games is important to Singapore’s operators, given the extent to which they are targeting gamers with bundles and services. For example, in September 2022 M1 launched its own cloud gaming subscription service, while in February 2022, StarHub bundled the Samsung Galaxy S22 series of 5G smartphones with a six month Geforce NOW cloud gaming subscription.
Definitions
Opensignal’s Games Experience measures how mobile users experience real-time multiplayer mobile gaming on an operator’s network. Measured on a scale of 0-100, it analyzes how our users’ multiplayer mobile gaming experience is affected by mobile network conditions including latency, packet loss and jitter.
Games Experience quantifies the experience when playing real-time multiplayer mobile games on mobile devices connected to servers located around the world. The approach is built on several years of research quantifying the relationship between technical network parameters and the gaming experience as reported by real mobile users. These parameters include latency (round trip time), jitter (variability of latency) and packet loss (the proportion of data packets that never reach their destination). Additionally, it considers multiple genres of multiplayer mobile games to measure the average sensitivity to network conditions. The games tested include some of the most popular real-time multiplayer mobile games (such as Fortnite, Pro Evolution Soccer and Arena of Valor) played around the world.
Calculating Games Experience starts with measuring the end-to-end experience from users’ devices to internet end-points that host real games. The score is then measured on a scale from 0 to 100.
In addition to Games Experience, we report on the following metrics related to games experience:
- 5G Games Experience: The average Games Experience of Opensignal users when they were connected to an operator’s 5G network.
- Games Experience – 5G Users: The average Games Experience of Opensignal users with a 5G device and a 5G subscription across an operator's networks. It factors in 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G games experience along with the availability of each technology.
- 4G Games Experience: The average Games Experience of Opensignal users on an operator's 4G network.
- 3G Games Experience: The average Games Experience of Opensignal users on an operator's 3G (e.g. UMTS/HSPA or CDMA 1X EV-DO) network.
National Analysis
Our StarHub users had the best experience when using over-the-top voice apps such as WhatsApp, Skype and Facebook Messenger, over cellular connections. This is a change from the last report, when there was no statistical difference between the experience of our M1, Singtel and StarHub users. As a result, StarHub has gone from being a joint winner alongside M1 and Singtel to being the outright winner of the Voice App Experience award. StarHub wins with a score of 81.4 points on a 100 point scale, giving it a lead of 0.5 points over second placed Singtel’s 80.9 points. M1 and SIMBA are in third and fourth place, respectively, with scores of 80.3 and 78.7 points.
StarHub, Singtel and M1 have all placed in the Good (80-87) category, while SIMBA had an Acceptable (74-80) rating instead. A Good rating indicates that many users were satisfied. Minor quality impairments were experienced by some users. Sometimes the background was not quite clear, it could have been either hazy or not loud enough. Clicking sounds or distortion were very rarely present.
Definitions
Opensignal's Voice App Experience measures the quality of experience for over-the-top (OTT) voice services — mobile voice apps such as WhatsApp, Skype and Facebook Messenger — using a model derived from the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) approach for quantifying overall voice call quality and a series of calibrated technical parameters. This model characterizes the exact relationship between the technical measurements and perceived call quality. Voice App Experience for each operator is calculated on a scale from 0 to 100.
In addition to Voice App Experience, we report on the following metrics related to voice app experience:
- 5G Voice App Experience: The average Voice App Experience of Opensignal users when they were connected to an operator’s 5G network.
- Voice App Experience – 5G Users: The average Voice App Experience of Opensignal users with a 5G device and a 5G subscription across an operator's networks. It factors in 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G voice app experience along with the availability of each technology.
- 4G Voice App Experience: The average Voice App Experience of Opensignal users on an operator's 4G network.
- 3G Voice App Experience: The average Voice App Experience of Opensignal users on an operator's 3G (e.g. UMTS/HSPA or CDMA 1X EV-DO) network.
National Analysis
StarHub remains the outright winner of the Download Speed Experience award. It wins this time with a score of 81.1 Mbps, 11.7 Mbps (16.8%) faster than second placed Singtel’s 69.4 Mbps. M1 is in third place with 43.1 Mbps, while SIMBA is last with 18.7 Mbps — less than half M1’s score and over four times slower than StarHub.
The average download speeds seen by our StarHub, Singtel and M1 users have increased significantly compared to those seen in the last report. Our StarHub users saw the largest rise – 15.2 Mbps (23%) — followed by Singtel and M1 users with increases of 12.9 Mbps (22.8%) and 4.5 Mbps (11.5%). In contrast, our SIMBA users did not see a statistically significant change in their average download speeds.
Definitions
Measured in Mbps, Download Speed Experience represents the typical everyday speeds a user experiences across an operator’s mobile data networks.
In addition to Download Speed Experience, we report on the following metrics related to download speeds:
- 5G Download Speed: The average download speed observed by Opensignal users with active 5G connections.
- Download Speed Experience – 5G Users: The average download speeds experienced by Opensignal users with a 5G device and a 5G subscription across an operator’s networks. It factors in 2G, 3G, 4G, and 5G download speeds along with the availability of each technology.
- 4G Download Speed: The average downlink speed observed by Opensignal users when they were connected to 4G.
- 3G Download Speed: The average downlink speed observed by Opensignal users when they were connected to 3G (e.g. UMTS/HSPA or CDMA 1X EV-DO).
National Analysis
StarHub has gone from being a joint winner alongside Singtel in the last report for Upload Speed Experience to winning the award outright. Our StarHub users observed average upload speeds of 14.7 Mbps, 0.7 Mbps (5.1%) faster than those seen by M1 users’ 14 Mbps. Singtel has dropped to third place with a score of 13.2 Mbps, while SIMBA remains in last place with 3.9 Mbps — more than three times slower than its rivals.
Definitions
Upload Speed Experience measures the average upload speeds for each operator observed by our users across their mobile data networks. Typically upload speeds are slower than download speeds, as current mobile broadband technologies focus resources on providing the best possible download speed for users consuming content on their devices. As mobile internet trends move away from downloading content to creating content and supporting real-time communications services, upload speeds are becoming more vital and new technologies are emerging that boost upstream capacity.
In addition to Upload Speed Experience, we report on five supporting metrics related to upload speeds:
- 5G Upload Speed: The average upload speed observed by Opensignal users with active 5G connections.
- Upload Speed Experience – 5G Users: The average upload speeds experienced by Opensignal users with a 5G device and a 5G subscription across an operator’s networks. It factors in 2G, 3G, 4G, and 5G upload speeds along with the availability of each technology.
- 4G Upload Speed: The average uplink speed observed by Opensignal users when they were connected to 4G.
- 3G Upload Speed: The average uplink speed observed by Opensignal users when they were connected to 3G (e.g. UMTS/HSPA or CDMA 1X EV-DO).
Coverage
M1
SIMBA
Singtel
StarHub
National Analysis
As was the case in the previous report, our users observed no statistically significant difference in the proportion of time they spent connected to a 3G or better signal in Singapore across the four operators, reporting impressive scores of 99.2-99.5%. None of the operators’ scores were statistically changed from the previous report.
Definitions
Our availability metrics are not a measure of a network’s geographical extent. They won’t tell you whether you are likely to get a signal if you plan to visit a remote rural or nearly uninhabited region. Instead, they measure what proportion of time people have a network connection, in the places they most commonly frequent — something often missed by traditional coverage metrics. Looking at when users have a connection rather than where, provides us with a more precise reflection of the true user experience.
We also keep track of the instances that leave mobile users most frustrated: when there is no signal to connect to at all. The most common dead zones users struggle with occur indoors. As most of our availability data is collected indoors (as that’s where users spend most of their time), we’re particularly astute at detecting areas of zero signal.
Our availability metrics take a user-centric, time-based approach that complements the user-centric and geographical-based methodology used by our reach metrics.
Availability shows the proportion of time all Opensignal users on an operator’s network had either a 3G, 4G or 5G connection.
Map Definition
The coverage maps show the locations where we received measurements from users connecting with 3G or better mobile service. Each map provides an indication of the areas in which it is possible to obtain mobile service from that mobile operator.
National Analysis
Three out of four operators — M1, Singtel and StarHub — have retained their perfect scores for 4G Coverage Experience – 10 on a 10 point scale from the last report. As a result, they remain joint winners of the award. SIMBA’s score of 9.7 points was also unchanged.
Definitions
4G Coverage Experience measures how mobile subscribers experience 4G coverage on an operator’s network. Measured on a scale of 0-10, it analyzes the locations where customers of a network operator received a 4G signal relative to the locations visited by users of all network operators.
In simple terms, 4G Coverage Experience measures the mobile coverage experience in all the locations that matter most to everyday users — i.e. all the places where they live, work and travel. It considers all the areas that Opensignal users visit, the portion of locations that 4G is available to them, and locations that more users visit have higher importance to them.
Map Definition
The coverage maps show the locations where we received measurements from users connecting with 3G or better mobile service. Each map provides an indication of the areas in which it is possible to obtain mobile service from that mobile operator.
Consistency
National Analysis
StarHub is the new outright winner of the Excellent Consistent Quality award — as its score of 83.1% gave it a lead of 1.6 percentage points over the former winner, Singtel. Singtel is in second place with 81.4 points, while M1 and SIMBA are in third and fourth place, respectively with scores of 77.3% and 69.9%. StarHub’s victory was driven by a 2.8 percentage point increase in its score from the last report, together with a two percentage point drop in Singtel’s.
Definitions
Consistent Quality measures how often users’ experience on a network was sufficient to support common applications’ requirements. It measures download speed, upload speed, latency, jitter, packet loss, time to first byte and the percentage of tests attempted which did not succeed due to a connectivity issue on either the download or server response component.
Full details on how the Consistent Quality metrics — Excellent Consistent Quality and Core Consistent Quality — are calculated can be found here.
Excellent Consistent Quality is the percentage of users’ tests that met the minimum recommended performance thresholds to watch HD video, complete group video conference calls and play games.
National Analysis
As with Excellent Consistent Quality, there is a new winner of the Core Consistent Quality award. StarHub wins outright with a score of 92.2% — giving it a lead of 1.9 percentage points over the previous winner, Singtel. The change in winner was driven by a 1.8 percentage point increase in StarHub’s score coupled with a 1.1 percentage point drop in Singtel’s. Singtel is in second place with 90.3%, followed by M1 with 89.6% and SIMBA with 88.3%. StarHub was the only operator on which the proportion of tests that met the minimum recommended performance thresholds for lower performance applications (including SD video, voice calls and web browsing) increased compared to the last report, while the other operators’ scores declined by 1.1-1.6 percentage points.
Definitions
Consistent Quality measures how often users’ experience on a network was sufficient to support common applications’ requirements. It measures download speed, upload speed, latency, jitter, packet loss, time to first byte and the percentage of tests attempted which did not succeed due to a connectivity issue on either the download or server response component.
Full details on how the Consistent Quality metrics — Excellent Consistent Quality and Core Consistent Quality — are calculated can be found here.
Core Consistent Quality is the percentage of users’ tests that met the minimum recommended performance thresholds for lower performance applications including SD video, voice calls and web browsing.
Related Analysis
Our Methodology
Collecting billions of individual measurements daily from over 100 million devices globally, Opensignal independently analyzes mobile and broadband user experience on every major network operator around the globe.
About Opensignal
Opensignal is the leading global provider of independent insights into consumers' connectivity experiences and choice of carrier. Our proprietary insights into mobile and broadband networks give operators the solutions they need to profitably compete and win, from executive level scorecards and public validation to pin-point level engineering analytics and consumer decision dynamics.
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Confidence Intervals
For every metric we calculate statistical confidence intervals indicated on our graphs. When confidence intervals overlap, our measured results are too close to declare a winner. In those cases, we show a statistical draw. For this reason, some metrics have multiple operator winners.
In our bar graphs we represent confidence intervals as boundaries on either sides of graph bars.
In our supporting-metric charts we show confidence intervals as +/- numerical values.
Why confidence intervals are vital in analyzing mobile network experience