The State Of 5G In Singapore 2023

You must be living under a rock if you have never heard of 5G in Singapore, especially with all the talks with the nation pushing for 50% Islandwide 5G coverage by 2022 and 100% by 2025. 

But with all the initial hype about remote surgeries, driving your car remotely while being at home, and downloading movies in seconds, why is this still not the status quo for 5G users after 3 years?

Well it turns out that the definition of 5G has expanded to cover 2 main standards: StandAlone (SA) and Non-StandAlone (NSA). Let’s compare the differences between these 2 5G standards and how they differ in speed.

StandAlone 5G

SA is the one that telcos use in their advertisements, claiming up to 1 gigabit per second download speeds and 10 fold speed improvements over 4G. This kind of speed requires 4 prerequisites: compatible phone hardware, software, sim card, and short distance from the 5G node. 

For your phones to surf the net at such speeds, a special 5G antenna, and a specialised sim card has to be physically present. Fortunately for us, modern smartphones from 2019 onwards have 5G antennas built in and tactfully named to differentiate between the 5G and non 5G versions.

Now the tricky thing is though phone manufacturers label their phones as 5G capable, the software needed to surf SA 5G provided by the different telcos differs. A case in point is the various iPhone models listed on Singtel’s FAQ page.

Even though the iPhone 12s and above come with 5G hardware, they only support 5G SA on iOS 15. You will have to make an effort to check each telco’s information page before committing to a 5G sim plan in order to access SA 5G.

To compound this, you must physically be near a 5G tower (typically outdoors) or node to enjoy the SA speeds. As SA uses much higher frequencies than 4G and NSA, the signal travels a considerably shorter distance and can’t pass through as many walls before your device disconnects or switches to NSA.

The difference in speed standing directly next to a 5G tower and behind a wall near the same tower can be multifold even though your phone shows 5G. So, in order for the full transition to SA 5G, telcos will have to invest heavily in 5G towers and nodes.

In recent years, telcos such as Singtel have rapidly rolled out 5G standalone nodes, achieving 95% nationwide coverage in July 2022 that includes 1,300 outdoor, and over 400 in-building and underground locations.

But that 1700 total nodes will likely still not be enough given how densely packed Singapore is with buildings and concrete walls. Until telcos decide to share 5G infrastructure, or when even more nodes are built, it will still be hard to consistently hit those crazy speeds.

Non-StandAlone 5G

NSA 5G is the type of 5G that incorporates a combination of 5G and 4G hardware from the towers and your phone, and what your phone uses when full SA is not available.

The speed on NSA is on average 2.5x faster than 4G. You are able to access 5G NSA with your current 4G sim card, a 5G supported phone, and with supported software of course.  

Telcos are actually quite smart with this naming scheme. See, even when your phone is using the inferior NSA 5G, the status bar of your phone still shows 5G simply because of its wide definition. The only way to find out if you are on SA 5G is to run a speed test or by downloading something.

5G Service Providers

In Singapore, all 3 major telcos have launched 5G SA, but the coverage, speeds and price plans differ. Most plans require a minimum subscription period which comes with termination fees.

Singtel

For Singtel, SA 5G supported plans start from S$30 a month, with a minimum 12 month subscription. They claim an impressive standalone 5G coverage in 95% of Singapore, both indoors and outdoors. 

	SIM Only Plus 45	SIM Only Plus 55
Price (S$)	30 for first 6 months, 45 thereafter	45
Benefits	(100 GB for first 6 months, 70 GB thereafter), 1000 mins Talktime, 1000 SMS, $100 phone voucher	(170 GB for first 6 months, 90 GB thereafter), 1500 mins Talktime, 1500 SMS, $100 phone voucher

	XO Plus 72	XO Plus 92	XO Plus 122	XO Plus 172	XO Plus 288
Price (S$)	72	92	122	172	288
Benefits	80 GB, 300 mins Talktime, 300 SMS, FREE 3 months of Bookful, MelodyVR and RiotGO	110 GB, 600 mins Talktime, 600 SMS,  FREE 3 months of Bookful, MelodyVR and RiotGO, Free 24 months of TalkMore Unlimited	130 GB, 800 mins Talktime, 800 SMS,  FREE 3 months of Bookful, MelodyVR and RiotGO, Free 24 months of TalkMore Unlimited	170 GB, 1200 mins Talktime, 1200 SMS,  FREE 3 months of Bookful, MelodyVR and RiotGO,  Free 24 months of TalkMore Unlimited, $200 price plan voucher issued every 21 months	180 GB, 1800 mins Talktime, 1800 SMS,  FREE 3 months of Bookful, MelodyVR and RiotGO, Free 24 months of TalkMore Unlimited,  $500 price plan voucher every 12 months, Free 30GB data, 30 mins Talktime, 30 SMS for 81 destinations worldwide

Starhub

Starhub’s SA 5G plans start from $38 a month, with a minimum 12 month subscription. However, their 5G SA coverage is not publicised. The supported 5G locations are found here.

	Mobile+ $38 SIM Only 1-year plan	Mobile+ $45 SIM Only 1-year plan
Price (S$)	28 for first 24 months, 38 thereafter	35 for first 24 months, 45 thereafter
Benefits	(100 GB for first 24 months, 60 GB thereafter), 1000 mins Talktime, 1000 SMS, 12 months of Disney+ and  1 month of GeForce NOW for free	140 GB for first 24 months, 80 GB thereafter, 1000 mins Talktime, 1000 SMS,  12 months of Disney+ and  1 month of GeForce NOW for free

	Mobile+ $69 2-year plan	Mobile+ $99 2-year plan	Mobile+ $129 2-year plan	Mobile+ $169 2-year plan
Price (S$)	69	99	129	169
Benefits	80 GB, 200 mins Talktime, 200 SMS,  3 months of Amazon Prime for free, 1 month of GeForce NOW for free	110 GB, 600 mins Talktime, 600 SMS, 3 months of Amazon Prime for free,  12 months of Disney+ and 1 month of GeForce NOW for free	140 GB, 800 mins Talktime, 800 SMS,  3 months of Amazon Prime for free, 12 months of Disney+ and  1 month of GeForce NOW for free	170 GB, 1000 mins Talktime, 1000 SMS,  3 months of Amazon Prime for free, 12 months of Disney+ and  1 month of GeForce NOW for free

M1

All of M1’s plans, even ones with no contract, come with SA 5G access and claim that they have 95% 5G coverage which is comparable to Singtel’s offering. Since all M1 plans are customisable, I will only discuss a few plans that I feel adequately represents its offerings.

	82 GB Sim Only plan	100 GB Sim Only plan
Price (S$)	17.95	19.95
Benefits	82 GB, 1100 mins Talktime, 1000 SMS	100 GB, 1100 mins Talktime, 1000 SMS

M1 plans are substantially cheaper than Singtel and Starhub while promising 95% SA 5G coverage. While it does not claim to offer the fastest 5G network, it is definitely a worthy contender to Singtel’s offerings.

Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNO)

Of course, not everyone needs those crazy amounts of Talktime and SMS quotas, that’s where mobile data centric, contract free MVNOs come in. These MVNOs rent bandwidth from the 3 telcos that build physical internet towers and pass on the savings from not owning hardware to us. 

The main 3 MVNOs in Singapore are Gomo, Giga and Circles.life. All 3 offer 5G add-on packs but come with a catch: these add-ons only unlock NSA 5G.

Giga’s 5G pack costs S$10 a month, in the supported locations here. Gomo’s 5G pack costs S$10 a month and can be used in 95% of Singapore. Circle.life’s 5G Start costs S$7 for a limited time (reverts to S$10 a month after promotional period), in the supported locations listed in the FAQ.

Conclusion

When I first wrote this article a year ago in 2021, Singtel and M1 were still in the process of achieving 50% SA 5G coverage in Singapore. But fast forward 1 year, both companies have managed to meet the government’s target of islandwide coverage way ahead of the 2025 deadline.

That is an impressive feat by any metric, and we can take advantage of this by paying for a SA 5G plan, obtaining a 5G sim card and getting a supported device. However as mentioned earlier, the teething range issues with SA 5G will still plague speed consistency until even more nodes are installed.

For me, since 4G is still really fast in Singapore, I don’t find the need to upgrade to a SA 5G plan that costs more and lacks the ability to rollover data. My S$18 for 50 GB with data rollover Giga! Plan works just fine. But if you really need the SA 5G speed, I feel M1’s $17.95 for 82 GB plan has the most bang for your buck.