TAS held a briefing this morning for the 3 pre-qualified consortia invited to participate in the Public Basic Telecommunication Services (PBTS) main tender exercise which opened on 1 August 1997 ...
Singapore, 15 August 1997 | For Immediate Release
TAS held a briefing this morning for the 3 pre-qualified consortia invited to participate in the Public Basic Telecommunication Services (PBTS) main tender exercise which opened on 1 August 1997.
The briefing provided the tenderers with the necessary information for preparation of their main tender submissions. It also gave them an opportunity to seek clarification on the terms of the tender. Tenderers can also submit written enquiries any time before the tender closes on 31 December 1997.
TAS briefed the tenderers on the time schedule and the rationale for its decision to further liberalise the telecommunication market from 2002. TAS explained that with the Government bringing forward the expiry of Singapore Telecom's exclusivity, there is no more restriction after 2000 for TAS to allow competition in any form and at any time to introduce new technologies and innovative services for the benefit of consumers. In view of this, TAS had stated explicitly, in the Information Package released in January this year as well as in the pre-qualification tender document, that TAS reserves the right to license additional operators after this current tender exercise. Further liberalisation from 2002 is in line with TAS' phased and managed approach to liberalisation. TAS also recognises that the telecommunication industry worldwide is transforming rapidly; hence, there is a need to ensure that TAS' regulatory framework can respond fast enough to market and technological changes to allow more players in the m
arket. Otherwise, Singapore risks being left behind in the technology race and becoming uncompetitive.
To provide certainty to the tenderers so that they can make their business cases taking future liberalisation moves into account, TAS wants to make it known to the tenderers when future liberalisation will take place. The successful tenderers will be selected by mid-1998, giving them 4 years to roll out their networks and stabilise their operations, which is a reasonable and sufficient time based on experience elsewhere.
TAS also informed the tenderers that the number of licences TAS will award for this current tender exercise will be determined based on the quality and attractiveness of the tender proposals. Up to 2 more players will be licensed for the year 2000 liberalisation. More players, both facilities-based and non facilities-based, can be licensed over time, depending on market development, level of competition and more importantly, the economic competitiveness and needs of Singapore.
TAS also briefed tenderers on matters relating to interconnection, which include the physical interconnect/access framework (including technical requirements); the charging principles and methodology; the initial benchmark charges and the interconnect negotiation process and time frame. TAS reiterated its intention of installing facilities-based competition, and encouraged tenderers to roll out their own core / trunk backbone networks aggressively. To minimise excessive duplication in the local access networks, TAS has mandated Singapore Telecom (SingTel) and Singapore Cable Vision to allow the new operators access to their copper and co-axial local access networks respectively.
At the briefing, SingTel also presented an overview of its overall network configuration and provided additional information on the potential areas for facilities sharing and co-location. The intention is to ensure that tenderers can make the appropriate "build or buy" decisions for their network roll-out plans.
The successful tenderers will commence commercial services from 1 April 2000.
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