Singapore has become the world’s first mobile WiMAX ready seaport with the launch of the Wireless-broadband-access for SEaPort (WISEPORT) project.
The project has been jointly set up and launched by the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA), Infocomm Development Authority (IDA) and QMax Communications Pte Ltd (QMax), a broadband infrastructure and technology company.
RADM(NS) Ronnie Tay, CEO of IDA said, “This builds on IDA’s iN2015 masterplan to use infocomm to transform key economic sectors in Singapore, while further strengthening the country’s position as a global transhipment hub.
Aimed at enhancing the pro-enterprise environment for the maritime industry, WISEPORT is the first project to be launched under the Infocomm@SeaPort Programme – a three-year S$12 million joint initiative by the MPA and IDA to promote the use of infocomm technologies in the port and maritime community.
Ships’ mobile broadband
With the infrastructure in place, ships can now enjoy wireless mobile broadband connectivity while operating in the Port of Singapore, up to 15km from Singapore’s southern coastline, the three partners behind the project have announced.
Further elaborating the range of the network, the partners said that the WiMAX network coverage stretched from the southern coast of Singapore to the port water limits.
Four maritime hotspots have been set up at the sites where there are intensive maritime activities, including Tuas, Jurong, Pasir Panjang and Tanjong Pagar. For these sites, WiMAX coverage is provided within the container terminals, oil terminals and shipyards. Under the project, at least six WiMAX base stations will be set up, with each having an estimated range of up to 15km, the partners added.
The project leverages the Mobile WiMAX wireless broadband network to benefit the industry in a variety of important ways such as improving operational and business efficiencies, enhancing human communications and opening doors to new business opportunities.
Activities that had to be done onshore, such as regulatory filings, electronic data exchanges and access to Internet-based applications, can now be replicated offshore, the partner companies claimed.
According to the project’s partner firms, response to the project has been encouraging. Leading organizations such as Shell, APL, Global Marine Transportation and Tropical Marine Science Institute (TMSI) have expressed interest to participate in the WISEPORT project, the partners added.
“We have set an initial target of 500 maritime subscribers for the pilot year of the WISEPORT program and to date we have already achieved half of our original target prior to the launch of this initiative,” said Alex Tan, director of QMax.
The communications company QMax said that it was offering free 512Kbps unlimited data access plan during the first year of the WISEPORT launch.
