SINGAPORE: Singapore's second-largest mobile phone operator StarHub announced it would be launching the country's fastest 4G mobile network at key business centers to keep up with the smartphone drive in the city. Singapore already has the largest per-capita smartphone penetration in the world, and StarHub hopes that its new network will enhance browsing on mobile devices and make using the Internet easier. According to the company, users with the new 4G network will experience faster online services in the central business district and at the Changi Airport beginning this month as new 4G capable phones will also be unveiled, Chief Executive Officer Neil Montefiore said in a July 6 interview with Bloomberg BusinessWeek. The cost to roll out throughout Singapore in two years will be “marginal," supporting the company's “stable" profitability, he said. StarHub, competing with Singapore Telecommunications (ST) for mobile-phone and pay-TV customers in the city-state, will also use a new fiber-optic grid to reach clients in commercial buildings in the suburbs, Montefiore said. Smartphones such as the iPhone and Samsung Electronics Co. (005930)'s Galaxy models, used to access social media and stream videos, have increased demand for capacity and prompted carriers across Asia to upgrade networks. “The rollout of 4G network will enable StarHub to cross- sell its content," said Gregory Yap, an analyst at Maybank Kim Eng Securities Pte, who rates the company a buy, also in the same report. “Mobile will continue to provide steady cash flow."
