StarHub, Huawei tout 1Gbps indoor coverage

StarHub says it has clocked 4G indoor speeds, of up to 1Gbps, operating on Huawei's small cell technology and will offer the service to consumers when compatible devices hit the market.

The announcement was the followup to the Singapore telco's rollout of its 4G LTE-Advanced Heterogeneous Network (HetNet) upgrade at Marina Bay last year, which saw the deployment of Huawei's small cell base stations, each no bigger than a ream of A4 paper.

Because they are much smaller than traditional base stations, small cells typically are tapped to provide in-building wireless coverage or extend coverage and capacity indoors, particularly in busy areas where traffic can get congested. They also are low-powered and offer a more efficient use of radio spectrum.

StarHub CTO Mock Pak Lum said: "There is more we can do to get better mileage out of our existing wireless spectrum. We are closely tracking the development of this new small cell solution to help us enhance network quality quickly and cost-efficiently, providing customers with much faster data speeds even within buildings and in crowded areas."

The telco was currently running commercial pilots on the 1Gbps service, with plans to extend this to consumers when compatible smartphone models were available in the local market.

StarHub in October 2015 said its HetNet would be deployed to 40 commercial buildings, hospitals, and shopping malls by the end of this year. The telco also was testing its network with Singapore's own HetNet trials at Jurong Lake district, which was part of the country's smart nation initiative.