One of the Largest Wireless Broadband Hubs in Asia-Pacific Launches In One of the World's Busiest Airports

Millions of International Visitors to Singapore Changi Airport Every Year Will Now Have Access To Wireless Broadband Internet Services

 

Singapore, 23 January 2003 - Millions of business travellers and tenants moving through or working throughout Singapore Changi Airport every year can now experience fast and convenient wireless broadband Internet surfing.

 

From today, one of the world's busiest airports will boast one of the largest commercially available wireless broadband airport hubs in Asia-Pacific, powered by StarHub, Singapore's leading info-communications provider. Using the global wireless standard WiFi (Wireless Fidelity) or IEEE802.11b, the wireless broadband hub allows business travellers and users with a laptop or PDA and a WiFi-compatible wireless LAN card to conveniently access the Internet wirelessly and at high-speeds (up to 11mbps). This will allow them to spend their time more productively - whether in transit to other destinations, waiting for their flight, or moving from location to location within the airport.

 

"With the launch of this service, Singapore Changi Airport continues to be on the technological forefront of the global transportation industry and is on track to become one of the most advanced airports in Asia-Pacific," said Mr Kyong Yu, Senior Vice President for StarHub Interactive. In 2002, Singapore Changi Airport handled 29 million visitors to both its terminals.

 

The wireless broadband hub encompasses major portions of Terminal 1 (Levels One to Three) and Terminal 2 (Levels One to Three). The area of coverage - which is about the size of 28 football fields - covers over 13 airport lounges, 32 food & beverage outlets and major public meeting areas in the Arrival and Departure Halls. In addition, unlike most wireless networks in Singapore, the Singapore Changi Airport wireless broadband hub is connected directly to StarHub's high-speed fibre-optic network and worldwide through StarHub's Global Tier 1 Internet backbone, ensuring smoother connections and faster downloads.

 

Added Mr Yu, "StarHub is aggressively moving into the WiFi arena by adopting an extensive hub strategy over a traditional spot strategy as market dynamics and usage patterns favour a more focused roll-out. We believe that the early WiFi adopters will continue to be in the business segment and we've targeted key areas in Singapore where there is a clear demand for the service."

 

New Walk-In Credit Card Subscription Plans

To complement the launch of the Singapore Changi Airport wireless hub, three new credit card subscription plans are introduced at the airport to target international business travellers who require short-term on-the-fly connections to the Internet wirelessly. All they need to do is to launch their wireless-enabled laptops or PDAs and register at the initial login page. They can then subscribe to one of three short-term plans based on the amount of time they would like to stay connected per session -

  • S$6.00 for 30 minutes;
  • S$9.00 for 60 minutes;
  • S$18.00 for 120 minutes.

No registration for the service is required. The payment is achieved via VISA or MasterCard and transacted through a secured credit card link available on the login page.

 

"The subscription plan is expected to be popular with business travellers (for example, those in transit) who may want to connect wirelessly to the Internet but do not wish to subscribe to country-based monthly subscriptions," continued Mr Yu. "They also do not need to subscribe at any designated counters or locations in order gain access to the wireless service. Instead, they can subscribe anytime anywhere within Singapore Changi Airport to experience wireless broadband Internet surfing."

 

The Singapore Changi Airport wireless broadband hub is the latest extensive wireless hub launched by StarHub. The first wireless broadband hub was launched in August 2002 at Suntec City. Unlike hotspots, wireless broadband hubs do not limit users to a single location for wireless surfing. Instead, they are able to move from one point to another within an extended hotzone without having to disconnect from the wireless network. This will facilitate greater convenience and productivity for users on the move.

 

For more information, please go to www.starhub.com/wirelesshub.

 

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