Although Singapore began testing the water with digital television (DTV) broadcasting nearly ten years ago, today the country remains predominantly an analogue market. As the country now looks to the future with renewed vigour, it is apparent that a full transition to digital terrestrial broadcasting will require an innovative network design to meet the specific requirements of this island state. Currently, Singapore’s national broadcaster, MediaCorp, is the sole provider of free-to-air terrestrial TV. Its seven channels are delivered via an established analogue broadcast network, as well as the StarHub hybrid fibre/ coaxial (HFC) cable network. In addition to these seven analogue channels, a digital HD version of MediaCorp’s Ch5—known as HD5—has also been broadcast from a single-site transmitter since 2007. Interestingly, Singapore’s first foray into the world of terrestrial DTV broadcasting occurred six years earlier—in 2001—with its TVMobile service. A subsidiary of MediaCorp, TVMobile pioneered the use of Digital Video Broadcast (DVB) technology to deliver DTV programs to selected bus services, taxis and shopping malls. TVMobile packaged real-time news and the latest ‘infotainment’ with a selection of content from MediaCorp’s channels, particularly the English Ch5 and Mandarinspeaking Ch8. However, the service was never considered a great success and was discontinued earlier this year. Digital radio was also pioneered more than 10 years ago, with the launch of Asia’s first digital audio broadcast (DAB) service. Today, MediaCorp has expanded this original service to now include transmission of 13 digital radio stations—five digital-only, and eight simulcast on FM. The next step From these early achievements in digital broadcasting, Singapore is now considering how best to take the next step to make a complete transition to a terrestrial DTV service. Here, a number of factors are influencing the direction that will be taken, such as Singapore’s planned national broadband network (NBN), and its impact on viewer access to the new DTV services. At present, a significant proportion of Singapore’s viewers rely on the HFC cable network to receive free-toair channels. A government mandate stipulates that the network owner, StarHub, is obliged to carry free-toair channels on the cable network—without charge to the consumer—as part of its licensing agreement. However, the likely obsolescence / replacement of the HFC by the NBN, which has no corresponding obligation, at present, means that a growing number of viewers will be unable to receive TV signals via cable in the future. Equally significant, many of Singapore’s apartment buildings rely on master antenna TV (MATV) systems to receive terrestrial broadcasts. MATVs typically comprise a single antenna on the building roof that splits and boosts the signal for individual apartment feeds. Most MATVs are incapable of receiving digital signals and would need to be replaced or upgraded at a very significant cost. With 75 per cent of Singapore’s dwellings owned by the Singapore Housing and Development Board—a government-owned public housing authority—the substantial cost of replacing MATV, would fall to the government. Together, these issues present the Singapore government with the challenge of providing equal or improved access to new DTV services for those consumers who previously relied on the cable network or MATV systems. HDN on the horizon One option that provides a solution to these issues is a High-density network (HDN). Compared with conventional broadcasting networks—which generally rely on one main transmission site, supported by smaller ‘gap-filler’ sites for a given coverage area—HDNs spread the transmission across a greater number of lowerpowered sites. This has the effect of delivering overall higher field strengths and improved signal penetration across the coverage area. For Singapore, where highdensity living is prevalent and high-rise buildings cause significant signal degradation, a network design such as this would enable conventional TVs to receive broadcast signals via indoor antennas. This would neatly side-step the requirement to upgrade the MATVs, and additionally provide a viable reception alternative to viewers used to relying on the HFC to deliver their TV signals. Typically, HDN-based broadcast infrastructures are more costintensive than conventional DTV networks to establish. However, preliminary studies indicate that the expense of implementing an HDN for Singapore would be substantially less than the cost of upgrading all the MATV systems. The higher field strengths and signal penetration characteristics of HDNs— compared with conventional DTV network design—also deliver the added advantage of providing good reception by portable and mobile TV devices. While the market for these devices in Singapore has yet to be fully realised, the growth potential and business opportunity that this presents is huge. Leading the field Most of the challenges associated with the implementation of an HDN infrastructure in Singapore relate to planning issues that restrict possible positioning of antenna systems, especially on roofs of buildings. Spectrum availability is not predicted to be a substantial impediment, although spectrum planning does require cooperation with the governments of neighbouring Malaysia and Indonesia. Naturally, spectrum availability will increase when Singapore’s analogue services are switched off—a move tentatively planned for 2015. At the turn of the millennium, Singapore led the drive for digital broadcasting in South-East Asia. Subsequent development on the foundation of this early progress has since been somewhat sedate. However, with a sense of renewed vigour, the country is now committed to a full digital broadcasting future, as apparent by its recent commencement of a year-long trial of 3DTV on terrestrial TV, cable TV and IPTV platforms. Once again, Singapore looks set to lead the region in the switchover to DTV.