S’pore buildings to meet broadband, mobile needs in future

Future and existing buildings will need to be equipped for broadband and mobile connectivity.

This, after Singapore’s Infocomm Development Authority publishes new building codes in the first half of next year.

The IDA is now seeking feedback on the proposals from the public and stakeholders through a consultation process which will take six weeks, before the codes are finalised and published.

The IDA said Singapore is one of the first countries in the world to propose such requirements.

Authorities want buildings future-ready to tap into Singapore’s evolving telecommunications landscape.

This means new projects will need to have fibre optic infrastructure in place to get wired to the country’s Next Generation Nationwide Broadband Network (NGNBN).

Part of the plan is also to have homes fitted with combination sockets. Such a socket can accept either phone or broadband cables, which means your room will be ready for you to make phone calls or surf the Internet.

And it’s also about better reception.

Developers have to set aside space, at no cost, for operators to install equipment in new and existing residential and non-residential buildings.

“Mobile users today expect to use their mobile phones (and) all the mobile data services anywhere, everywhere, including in buildings. So in order to achieve good coverage and good services in buildings, the mobile operators may have to put in equipment in buildings,” said Leong Keng Thai, Deputy Chief Executive of IDA.

But would this lead to wasted space?

“One of our concerns really is that if they ask for rooms and if they are enclosed rooms, we are requesting that they should be taken out as non-gross floor area so that we don’t lose efficiency in the building design,” said Cheang Kok Kheong, Chief Operating Officer, Development & Property, Frasers Centrepoint Homes.

“We should treat them like infrastructure, like water tanks; we don’t count them as gross floor areas,” he added.

The last time building codes were revised to ensure telecommunications facilities kept pace with changes was in 2008.

Source : Channel NewsAsia – 4 Nov 2011

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