Singapore's Minister of Information, Communications and the Arts Dr Yaacob Ibrahim announced in his CommunicAsia2012 opening address that Singapore's free-to-air TV channels will go fully digital by the end of 2013 using the DVB-T2 standard.
Singapore will complete the switchover from analog to digital broadcasting by 2020, in line with ASEAN's agreed timeframe.
The minister also said that green data centers are being promoted through a specialized industrial park with a new green tax incentive effective since March, whereby 30-50% of the cost of energy efficient equipment can be claimed as tax relief.
Dr Ibrahim also highlighted the opportunities that will arise from his country's next-generation broadband network, which has the potential to "change the lives of citizens through connectivity". Singapore's upcoming 4G spectrum auction will begin in 2013 with a healthy 320 MHz of spectrum on the table.
He pointed out that more than 12 service providers, taking advantage of the open access structure of the high-speed network, are now providing services to 133,000 users.
With high-speed connectivity, the Singapore government under its 2015 master plan has developed the data.gov.sg portal, which provides more than 7,000 government datasets for public usage. He said this has resulted in more than 60 apps, even one for services using augmented reality for amenities in public parks.
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