1-Net Singapore Pte. Ltd., the key infrastructure player behind the island's emerging SingaporeONE broadband multimedia network, has revealed plans to build the country's first e-business park.

Currently, the Singapore government has been proactive in setting technology parks within the island and around the region and the move could be a primer to expand this concept overseas.

The company plans to set up an industrial estate which will give interested businesses the ability to have high-speed internet access and broadband multimedia access from one central location. It is now in discussions with several property developers on executing the plan to set up the premise.

The company plans to invest about S$3 million in setting up the necessary infrastructure like the networks and switches and hopes to get the estate ready for occupation by mid 2000. The aim is to provide every tenant in the park with broadband multimedia access at low cost since the site will sit on the SingaporeONE backbone.

The company will be able to offer broadband Internet access at a low cost because tenants in the park will get a direct connection to the SingaporeONE network, rather than through the traditional leased line approach. Prospective tenants at the park will be able to enjoy bandwidth of up to 622 Mbps, according 1-Net's current business plans.

Currently, the three main Singapore ISPs -- SingNet Pte. Ltd., Pacific Internet Ltd. and Cyberway Pte. Ltd. -- together have four pipelines of 155 Mbps each.

Another key feature of the park is that it will house a broadband access node, also found in the SingaporeOne network, seldom found in other industrial parks. Other features of the e-business park will include telcommunication standard data centres with backup power supplies and links to telephone exchanges and ISPs around the clock.

In setting up this park, the company said it plans to bring related expertise from areas like system integrators, content providers and logistics fulfillment services under one location.

The move comes at a time when a recent survey by the Singapore National Computer Board showed that companies were reluctant to get into e-commerce because of high start-up costs.


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