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
Singtel users see the fastest average 5G speeds
In a change from the last report, Singtel is the outright winner of the 5G Download Speed award, replacing the previous joint winners StarHub and M1. Singtel wins a score of 384.2Mbps — around 18Mbps (4.9%) faster than M1’s and StarHub’s statistically tied scores of 360.9-371.7Mbps. In addition, Singtel keeps hold of the 5G Upload Speed award with a score of 35.1Mbps, 9.3Mbps (36.1%) higher than M1’s and StarHub’s tied scores of 25.7-25.8Mbps.
StarHub users have the most consistent experience
StarHub is the sole winner of the Consistent Quality award. It replaces the Excellent Consistent Quality and Core Consistent Quality awards from the previous report — which StarHub also won outright. StarHub places first with a score of 82.7% and a lead of 2.9 percentage points over Singtel. Consistent Quality measures if the network is sufficient to support common mobile application requirements at a level that is ‘good enough’ for users to maintain (or complete) various typical demanding tasks on their devices.
Singtel knocks StarHub off the top spot for Upload Speed Experience
Our Singtel users observe the fastest overall upload speeds – 16.3Mbps or 0.6Mbps (4%) faster than those seen by those on StarHub, the previous winner. StarHub places second with a score of 15.6Mbps, while M1 is in third place with 15.2Mbps. Singtel’s victory is due to a 1.8Mbps (12.6%) increase in its score, which outweighs the improvement of 0.4Mbps (2.4%) seen by our StarHub users.
StarHub users have the best overall experience when streaming real-time video
StarHub is the first Singaporean operator to win Opensignal’s new overall Live Video Experience award. It does so with a score of 68.4 points on a 100-point scale and a lead of 3.3 points over second-placed Singtel. Unlike Video Experience, which represents on-demand video streams, Live Video Experience quantifies live video streaming used for current events. For example, when users watch live sports, game streams, music concerts, or news where the event is happening at that moment in time.
Singtel places first for 5G Coverage Experience
Singtel wins the new 5G Coverage Experience award with a score of 8.3 points on a 10-point scale and a lead of around 0.8 points over M1 and StarHub, which share second place with identical scores of 7.5 points. 5G Coverage Experience measures the extent of mobile networks in the places people live, work and travel. It represents the geographic coverage of populated areas from 5G users on 5G connections.
Mobile Experience Awards
Market Overview
As was the case in the last report, StarHub claims the most awards this time around — but it now does so by the smallest of margins. It wins five awards outright — all three overall experiential awards (Video Experience, the new Live Video Experience award and Games Experience), Download Speed Experience and Consistent Quality — while also sharing first place across four categories.
Singtel’s tally is just one joint win behind StarHub, as it also wins five awards outright but is a joint winner for a further three. Singtel wins both 5G speed awards outright alongside the 5G Games Experience award and the new 5G Coverage Experience award.
M1 is a joint winner for three awards — 5G Video Experience, Availability and 5G Availability — while SIMBA wins no awards either outright or jointly.
Singapore’s Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) announced back in July 2023 that M1, Singtel and StarHub will fully shut down their 3G networks by the end of July 2024. The regulator also confirmed that retailers will no longer be able to sell 3G mobile phones or 4G phones that require 3G for voice calls from February 1, 2024. Once the 3G networks have been switched off, it will be possible to refarm the spectrum for 5G use, which is likely to improve capacity, speeds and the user experience.
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, 2023 and ending on October 29, 2023, to see how they measure up.
Overall Experience
National Analysis
StarHub continues to be the outright winner of the Video Experience award — it does so with a score of 72.5 points on a 100-point scale and a lead of 2.8 points over Singtel, which places second with 69.7 points. M1 comes third with 64.7 points, while SIMBA brings up the rear with 63.2 points.
Video Experience scores account for adaptive bitrate streaming (ABR), a technology that allows Opensignal to accurately represent users' real video experience including video streams up to 4K quality.
Singtel and StarHub place in the Very Good (68-78) category, while M1 and SIMBA place one category lower — Good (58-68).
A Very Good (68-78) rating means that our users are, on average, able to stream video at 1080p or better with satisfactory loading times and little stalling. A Good (58-68) rating means that our users are, on average, able to stream video at 720p or better with satisfactory loading times and little stalling.
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 wins the new Live Video Experience award outright with a score of 68.4 points on a 100-point scale, giving it a lead of 3.3 points over Singtel’s 65.1 points. M1 comes third with 59.8 points, followed by SIMBA with 58.8 points.
Operators’ Live Video Experience scores are determined using a range of measures that impact users’ perceived live streaming viewing experience, including picture quality, video loading time, and stall rate, but also live playback offset — the time difference between real-time and the current playback position a viewer sees.
Unlike Video Experience, which represents on-demand video streams, Live Video Experience quantifies live video streaming used for current events. For example when users watch live sports, game streams, music concerts, or news where the event is happening at that moment in time.
All operators place in the Excellent (58 or above) category. This means that our users are, on average, able to stream video at least at 1080p with low loading times, little stalling and a satisfactory live offset.
Definitions
Opensignal’s Live Video Experience quantifies the quality of real-time video streamed to mobile devices by measuring video streams over an operator's network. The metric extends the existing International Telecommunication Union (ITU) approach used for Opensignal's on-demand Video Experience metric, built upon detailed studies which have derived a relationship between technical parameters, including live playback offset, picture quality, video loading time and stall rate, with the perceived live video experience as reported by real people. To calculate live video experience, we are directly measuring live video streams from end-user devices and using this extension of ITU's approach to quantify the overall live video experience for each operator on a scale from 0 to 100. The videos tested include a mixture of resolutions and are streamed directly from the world’s largest video content providers.
National Analysis
StarHub wins the Games Experience award outright for the fifth report in a row. It wins this time with a score of 84.7 points on a 100-point scale and a lead of 0.9 points over Singtel, which places second with 83.8 points. M1 and SIMBA share third place with identical scores of 77.3 points.
SIMBA's score has increased from the previous report by an impressive 13.3 points, while Singtel’s has risen by a more modest three points. M1's score has decreased by 1.1 points, while StarHub's score hasn't changed by a statistically significant amount since the last report.
All operators place in the Good (75-85) category. This indicates that most users deem the experience acceptable. The gameplay experience is generally controllable and the user receives immediate feedback between their actions and the outcomes in the game. Most users do not experience a delay between their actions and the game.
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
StarHub wins the Download Speed Experience award outright for the seventh time in a row. It places first this time around with a score of 107.7Mbps and is still the only operator in Singapore with overall average download speeds exceeding 100Mbps. StarHub’s score is 23.7Mbps (28.2%) faster than that of second-placed Singtel’s 84Mbps. M1 comes third with 64Mbps, while SIMBA places a distant fourth with 20.5Mbps.
Our users on three out of four operators have seen significant increases in their overall average download speeds since the last report. M1's score has increased by 12Mbps (23.2%), while Singtel's has risen by 10.6Mbps (14.5%) and StarHub's score has climbed by 6.6Mbps (6.5%).
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
Singtel is the new outright winner of the Upload Speed Experience award — replacing the previous winner, Starhub. Singtel wins with a score of 16.3Mbps and a lead of 0.6Mbps (4%) over StarHub, which now places second with 15.6Mbps. M1 places third with 15.2Mbps, while SIMBA comes fourth with 4.8Mbps.
Singtel’s victory is due to a 1.8Mbps (12.6%) increase in its score, which outweighs the improvement of 0.4Mbps (2.4%) seen by our StarHub users. Our M1 and SIMBA users’ scores have risen by 0.5Mbps (3.7%) and 0.2Mbps (4.3%), respectively.
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).
5G Experience
National Analysis
Singtel, M1 and StarHub win the 5G Video Experience award jointly with statistically tied scores of 77.5-77.8 points on a 100-point scale and a lead of around 4.6 points over SIMBA, which places in fourth with its score of 73.1 points.
5G Video Experience scores account for adaptive bitrate streaming (ABR), a technology that allows Opensignal to accurately represent users' real video experience including video streams up to 4K quality.
All operators place in the Very Good (68-78) category. This indicates that our users are, on average, able to stream video at 1080p or better with satisfactory loading times and little stalling when connected to 5G.
Definitions
5G Video Experience quantifies the quality of mobile video experienced by Opensignal users on real-world video streams when they were connected to 5G. 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 5G Video Experience, we are directly measuring video streams from end-user devices and using this ITU approach to quantify the video experience observed by our users on each operator’s 5G network 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.
National Analysis
Singtel and StarHub share the new 5G Live Video Experience award with statistically tied scores of 73.8-74.2 points on a 100-point scale and a lead of around 0.9 points over M1, which is in third place with 73.1 points. SIMBA comes fourth with 70.5 points.
Operators’ 5G Live Video Experience scores are determined using a range of measures that impact users’ perceived live streaming viewing experience, including picture quality, video loading time, and stall rate, but also live playback offset — the time difference between real-time and the current playback position a viewer sees.
Unlike 5G Video Experience, which represents on-demand video streams, 5G Live Video Experience quantifies live video streaming used for current events. For example when users watch live sports, game streams, music concerts, or news where the event is happening at that moment in time.
All operators place in the Excellent (58 or above) category. This means that our users are, on average, able to stream video at least at 1080p with low loading times, little stalling and a satisfactory live offset when connected to 5G.
Definitions
Opensignal’s Live Video Experience quantifies the quality of real-time video streamed to mobile devices by measuring video streams over an operator's network. The metric extends the existing International Telecommunication Union (ITU) approach used for Opensignal's on-demand Video Experience metric, built upon detailed studies which have derived a relationship between technical parameters, including live playback offset, picture quality, video loading time and stall rate, with the perceived live video experience as reported by real people. To calculate live video experience, we are directly measuring live video streams from end-user devices and using this extension of ITU's approach to quantify the overall live video experience for each operator on a scale from 0 to 100. The videos tested include a mixture of resolutions and are streamed directly from the world’s largest video content providers.
5G Live Video Experience quantifies the quality of mobile video experienced by Opensignal users on real-world live video streams when they were connected to 5G.
National Analysis
Singtel wins the 5G Games Experience award outright for the second time in a row. It does so with a score of 94 points on a 100-point scale and a lead of 1.3 points over StarHub, which places second with 92.7 points. M1 comes third with 89.5 points, while SIMBA places last with 85.3 points.
All operators place in the Excellent (85 or above) category. This indicates that the vast majority of users deem this 5G experience acceptable. Nearly all users feel like they have control over the game and they receive immediate feedback on their actions. There is not a noticeable delay in almost all cases.
Definitions
5G Games Experience measures how mobile users experience real-time multiplayer mobile gaming on an operator's 5G network. It analyzes how our users’ multiplayer mobile gaming experience was affected by mobile network conditions including latency, packet loss and jitter. 5G Games Experience for each operator is calculated on a scale from 0 to 100.
5G 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 5G Games Experience starts with measuring the end-to-end experience from users’ devices to internet end-points that host real games.
National Analysis
Singtel wins the 5G Download Speed award outright with a score of 384.2Mbps. This is a change from the last report, when M1 and StarHub shared the award with statistically tied scores of 382.5-388.4 points. Our Singtel users see average 5G download speeds that are around 18Mbps (4.9%) faster than those seen on M1 and StarHub, given their tied scores of 360.9-371.7Mbps.
Singtel's victory was made possible by a 25.1Mbps (7%) increase in its score from the previous report, combined with decreases of 21.6Mbps (5.7)% and 16.7Mbps (4.3)% seen on StarHub and M1, respectively.
Definitions
5G Download Speed shows the average download speed experienced by Opensignal users across an operator’s 5G network. 5G Download Speed for each operator is calculated in Mbps (Megabits per second).
National Analysis
Singtel wins the 5G Upload Speed award outright for the second report in a row. It does so this time with a score of 35.1Mbps and a lead of around 9.3Mbps (36.1%) over M1 and StarHub, which place second with statistically tied scores of 25.7-25.8Mbps.
Singtel's score has increased by 2.3Mbps (7%) from the last report. Our M1 and StarHub users have also seen improvements in their average 5G upload speeds — increases of 1.7Mbps (7.3%) and 1Mbps (4.1%), respectively.
Definitions
5G Upload Speed measures the average upload speeds experienced by Opensignal users across an operator’s 5G network. 5G Upload Speed for each operator is calculated in Mbps (Megabits per second).
Coverage
M1
SIMBA
Singtel
StarHub
National Analysis
Singtel wins the new 5G Coverage Experience award outright with a score of 8.3 points on a 10-point scale and a lead of around 0.8 points over M1 and StarHub, which share second place with identical scores of 7.5 points.
Definitions
The Opensignal Coverage Experience metric measures the extent of mobile networks in the places people live, work and travel. The metric represents the experience users receive as they travel around areas where they would reasonably expect to find coverage.
Traditional coverage metrics typically estimate either a percentage of land area covered, or a percentage of population covered; often neither will be an accurate measurement of the true user expectation and experience. In many markets there are areas where neither population density nor geographic area reflect the importance of coverage to users. For example, in a large mountain range most users will not expect coverage in the wilderness, but poor coverage in the relatively small area of a ski resort is critical for the enjoyment of a holiday. Estimates based purely on population give undue significance to coverage in the most densely populated areas.
Coverage Experience measures geographic coverage of populated areas and therefore more accurately reflects the coverage expectations and experience of typical users. It can give a result that is somewhat different to traditional estimates based on either geographic or population measures. The metric uses a scale from 0 to 10.
5G Coverage Experience shows the proportion of places Opensignal users with a 5G device and a 5G subscription had an active 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
Singtel, M1 and StarHub are joint winners of the Availability award with statistically tied scores of 99.3-99.4% and a lead of around 0.2 percentage points over SIMBA, which places fourth with a score of 99.2%.
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
M1 and StarHub share the 5G Availability award for the second time in a row. They do so this time with statistically tied scores of 38.5-38.6% and a lead of around eight percentage points over Singtel, which places in third with its score of 30.6%. SIMBA comes fourth.
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.
5G Availability shows the proportion of time Opensignal users with a 5G device and a 5G subscription had an active 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.
Consistency
National Analysis
StarHub wins the Consistent Quality award outright with a score of 82.7% and a lead of 2.9 percentage points over Singtel, which places in second with its score of 79.8%. M1 comes third with 74.7%, and SIMBA places last with 70.5%. Consistent Quality replaces the Excellent Consistent Quality and Core Consistent Quality awards, both of which were won by StarHub in the previous report.
Consistent Quality measures if the network is sufficient to support common mobile application requirements at a level that is ‘good enough’ for users to maintain (or complete) various typical demanding tasks on their devices. It assesses a number of experience indicators such as download speed, upload speed, latency, jitter, packet loss, and time to first byte.
Definitions
Consistent Quality measures if the network is sufficient to support common mobile application requirements at a level that is ‘good enough’ for users to maintain (or complete) various typical tasks on their devices.
We combine different experience indicators such as download speed, upload speed, latency, jitter, packet discard, and time to first byte to calculate Consistent Quality. These components are evaluated against thresholds recommended by various more demanding common applications used for a range of common tasks.
To calculate the metric value, the proportion of tests that pass the requirements of Consistent Quality is multiplied by the test success ratio, which is the proportion of completed tests to all tests conducted. Tests that pass indicate that activities such as video calling, uploading an image to social media, or using smart home applications will be possible without noticeable lag or slowdown.
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