Interview with M1: Not alone in its 5G standalone journey

Note: This feature was first published on 27 July 2021.

The telco arms race to win consumer trust and subscription is a long-standing battle between our Big Three brands, and it's further complicated by the appearance of MVNOs and a relatively new fourth telco with generous mobile data bundles to boot. 

M1 is far from alone when it comes to leveraging on 5G to tip the scales. Like the others with 5G licenses, the orange camp is just one of the three major telco networks to offer 5G NSA, and now 5G SA, in light of their latest announcements. What each telco can do with their respective 5G networks will determine how competitive they can be for the foreseeable future, especially since data usage is no longer a luxury to the average Singaporean. 

We’ve had the opportunity to glean some perspectives from Mr Denis Seek, Chief Technical Officer at M1, about what the company believes it can do differently for 5G. We also spoke about some of the challenges they’ve faced or will face, as a telco delivering connected experiences to even more connected customers. 

We've split M1's thoughts around 5G into three core sections - first, about M1’s 5G SA network, followed by M1’s treatment and understanding of its mobile network users feedback, and finally, M1’s bigger picture on 5G for Singapore.

About M1’s 5G SA network

We've seen local telco brands pushing out 5G non-standalone (NSA) and 5G standalone (SA) at different times, despite IMDA issuing the 5G license simultaneously to all winning bidders. What are some of the challenges M1 faced in bringing both 5G SA and 5G NSA to consumers?

Shortly after receiving our 5G license last year (2020), we quickly rolled out M1’s 5G NSA network, which leveraged our 4G network infrastructure to deliver some early 5G capabilities. 

After being awarded our C-band at the beginning of this year, we have since implemented a completely new network design and standalone architecture that operates independently of the 4G and 5G NSA network infrastructure to deliver an enhanced and secured suite of capabilities as part of the 5G SA experience.

To differentiate ourselves, M1 chose to roll out our 5G SA services when the ecosystem is truly ready for it, and that requires several months of thorough network-device interoperability tests. Despite being launch-ready earlier, we wanted to ensure that we had the proper infrastructure to provide a wider coverage area (better than our NSA coverage) and compatible handsets that can run on commercial software instead of beta version's software. 

Does M1 and StarHub jointly winning a 5G bid affect the quality of 5G networks offered in either camp?

The synergy between M1 and StarHub has enabled us to deploy the 5G SA radio network infrastructure much faster and more efficiently. In addition, M1 differentiates its service offering by riding on our latest cloud-native 5G core network and newly launched cloud-native digital platform to offer flexible, unique made-to-measure 5G offerings and best-in-class services to our customers. 

 

How is M1 going to roll out 5G SA to tricky networking areas, like the underground, in-buildings, and other non-residential or business areas? 

At launch, our 5G SA network will cover about 50% of Singapore, including the CBD and major residential areas, and we target to increase it to 75% by the end of 2021.

As with all network rollouts, we provide 5G in-building coverage to major shopping malls and offices progressively, prioritising indoor locations with high data usage. In addition, we are working closely with the authorities and the other telcos to provide 5G services for tunnels and underground areas.

Tell us more about M1’s 5G SA network itself. How fast is it, really?

M1’s 5G SA uses Band 78, on the 3.5GHz spectrum, while our 5G NSA uses Band 1 (2,100MHz).

In our tests, we achieved a download throughput of up to 1Gbps, upload throughput of up to 150Mbps, and network latency of 10-15ms on the 5G SA network in the live environment.

Other than its speed and latency, what other benefits can a consumer expect from M1 5G SA?

M1's 5G SA network offers 10x faster speeds and 50% more responsiveness than the 4G network, which enables connectivity to more devices without any reduction in speed or quality. 

This means that a higher influx of traffic is no longer a problem, and consumers can enjoy an extremely smooth mobile connectivity experience anywhere, anytime. These benefits also enable a range of innovative and diversified digital experiences such as:

• 5G cloud gaming, where milliseconds can make a difference between winning or losing
• Real-time interactive streaming and entertainment, where users can enjoy exclusive live concerts from the comfort of their own home
• Immersive augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) applications for next level uninterrupted gaming experience 

How else is M1’s 5G unique when compared against other telcos offering 5G here?

Our priority with the 5G network rollout is to ensure that our network is more accessible to more customers. Besides ensuring greater network coverage, quality and resilience, our customer-centric approach will allow our mobile users to enable 5G SA access in a quick and hassle-free manner.

Beyond this, M1 has been at the forefront of 5G development since 2018, developing a record of over 15 unique 5G trials, use cases and partnerships across the consumer, enterprise and government spheres, which have helped us create our 5G plans. We will continue to leverage our expertise and experience to create more made-to-measure offerings and products that differentiate M1 in the market.

M1 and its consumers

How will M1 meet the evolving needs of consumers as they eventually move on to 5G?

Our new digital platform allows us to deliver hyper-personalised products and services that enable our customers to choose exactly how they want to tailor their mobile plans according to their needs. The new 5G SA services that we are launching will also be available as an extension of this, through a plan that can be subscribed to either online or in-store.

Beyond this, our digital platform will also cater to all our customers’ daily needs, such as gaming, video conferencing, financial services, transport services, entertainment services, and more.

Ushering in this new era of connectivity solutions is also in line with Keppel Group’s Vision 2030, which includes enhancing connectivity for communities.

M1 must have received customer feedback about its network technologies and services. What are some of the top priorities M1 will be addressing as it conducts its 5G SA rollout?

When we launched our 5G NSA network in September 2020, we offered our users discounted add-on boosters, enabling them to try the benefits of 5G NSA without any bill plan limitations. This approach worked well with our consumers, and we found that those who had 5G NSA capable devices and bought the booster were consuming twice as much data as average 4G users. 

Thus, we have decided to roll out a similar add-on booster approach for our 5G SA offering as well. 

We are also ramping up our 5G infrastructure rollout to achieve 50% nationwide coverage at launch - 3x of M1’s initial 5G NSA coverage - and are working with leading device vendors to ensure that our 5G SA network is compatible with their existing and upcoming phone models, as we found that the availability of 5G compatible devices a key factor in driving adoption.

With our changing consumption patterns of data and how the 5G rollout would be timely for any revamp, what do you/M1 think are the right ways forward in providing consumers with fewer restrictions around data limits?

Data has become like oxygen in the modern era.

Consumers increasingly rely on mobile data for their day-to-day connectivity, work and entertainment needs. The rollout of advanced 5G SA networks offering higher speeds and greater reliability will play a huge role in supercharging mobile connectivity experiences in Singapore. 

M1 is already ahead of the curve for meeting our customers’ specific data and connectivity needs. For example, in the last two years alone, we have seen the amount of data consumption by our postpaid mobile users more than double across various users. 

Thus, our newly launched made-to-measure mobile plans are completely customisable so that users can select each element of their plan — including their data requirements — to suit their specific needs, resulting in over six million permutations and combinations that can be achieved in just a few simple clicks. Introducing this plan gives our users a degree of flexibility and personalisation that has never been seen before in Singapore. We will continue to further this mission with our 5G network.

What are some new technologies or processes in place to help reduce/minimise instances of network downtime? 

M1 remains committed to reviewing and strengthening our network and processes regularly to ensure our customers receive the high-quality service experience they deserve. We have taken the proactive approach to boost our broadband network capacity as more people work from home (WFH). We also have a dedicated team of operations and maintenance staff who closely monitor network capacity and operations to maintain high availability, especially during periods of heavy usage. 

We have also made significant improvements to our network strength and resilience with new technologies. For example, in our endeavour to further bolster customer service and communication during downtime, we have invested in a cloud-based call centre platform that can manage increased call loads and lower our response time.

M1’s visions for 5G in Singapore

How has the pandemic re-shaped the way M1 brings 5G, or even connectivity to its users?

In the last few years, there has been a shift in consumer behaviour towards digital platforms and services — and the pandemic has further accelerated this. As a result, both consumers and businesses are looking for quicker, simpler, and more personalised experiences.

This is why we embarked on our digital transformation journey last year, completely revamping all our processes to focus on customers through a simplified, streamlined, and self-service digital platform.

With this, we have become Singapore’s first network operator to integrate all aspects of our back-end systems onto a one-of-its-kind, cloud-native digital platform. This has significantly enhanced the scalability, evolution and performance of our systems, and will allow us to unleash the full potential of 5G by using 5G SA’s cloud-native architecture to create and provide superior services to consumers and businesses.

Beyond this, our enterprise business launched a range of solutions and services to support businesses throughout the pandemic – these include remote working and business continuity solutions.

We have recently collaborated with like-minded partners in the IT space to support Singapore’s SMEs on their digital transformation journeys, gearing them up with the latest applications and solutions to stand out from the competition and deliver differentiated services to their consumers.

How do you envision 5G being beneficial to businesses in Singapore?

Tapping into the full potential of 5G SA will be a game-changer for the business community in Singapore and beyond. M1 has been working on various live use-cases and trials with some of the most exciting enterprises and SMEs across Singapore to reimagine how businesses can use 5G to increase efficiency, accelerate innovation, and meet customers’ needs. 

Such B2B2C opens up limitless possibilities by allowing businesses to leverage the incredible speed, responsiveness and extreme device density of advanced 5G networks to enable a range of truly revolutionary new applications — from autonomous vehicles to remote surgery, maritime applications and retail banking — that can benefit the average consumer as well.

Is Singapore even "5G-ready" as a nation?

With 5G set to usher in a new era of ultra-fast and responsive connectivity experiences for consumers in Singapore, it holds power to transform industries by enabling a range of exciting new applications. These innovations will, in turn, redefine how businesses increase efficiency, accelerate innovation and meet customers’ needs.

Singapore’s outlook to 5G is much more forward-looking than many other countries in the region. This is because the Government and local regulators are proactive and encourage the adoption of new technologies, which fosters an innovative 5G ecosystem. 

We are already making good progress with the 5G SA rollout, and we foresee that Singapore will continue to be at the forefront of 5G development.

Beyond the consumer segment, many businesses in Singapore have also started to explore the benefits through market trials and use-cases. Our work with both B2B and B2B2C cases not only drives monetisation for us but also creates significant value for the businesses and end-consumers. This will pave the way and establish Singapore’s position as a leading digital and connectivity hub.

Our articles may contain affiliate links. If you buy through these links, we may earn a small commission.