History of internet in Singapore: From academic link to 5G digital future

The internet—we rely on it for everything from work (especially when working from home), entertainment (video streaming, mindless surfing, you name it), and even sustenance (hands up if your guilty pleasure is ordering bubble tea delivery). This omnipresent system forms the very fabric of our modern lives.

How did this cyberspace make its way to our shores and change our lives forever? We’re hopping into a time machine to trace the history of the internet in Singapore, charting its journey from niche academic project to the ubiquitous tool that powers our nation. Only have 2 minutes? You can watch the video below too!

Short on time? Catch this video to find out how the internet landscape changed in Singapore.

The academic genesis: Precursors to the public internet (1987–1991)

The true origin story of Singapore’s internet history starts not with consumers, but with academia. The precursor to the global internet, known as Bitnet, was a private network connecting over 600 computers in academic institutions—mostly in the US, Canada, and Europe.

In 1987, Singapore’s National University of Singapore (NUS) established a vital link to Bitnet. NUS quickly cemented its central role in bringing the internet to Singapore, achieving the country’s first connection to the global network in 1990.

A year later, NUS began operating Technet, which focused on connecting R&D and academic institutions. While these steps were critical for pioneering research, this form of digital communication remained largely inaccessible to the vast majority of Singaporeans.

The dial-up revolution: Internet for the masses (1994–1997)

For most of us, 1994 marks the true dawn of internet history in Singapore. This was the year Singtel launched SingNet, which offered public access to the internet along with an essential email service. If you ever come across an email address with "singnet" in it, you’re looking at one of Singapore’s earliest digital adopters.

Two other Internet Service Providers (ISPs) quickly entered the fray: Pacific Internet in 1995 and Cyberway in 1996. This competitive landscape quickly benefitted consumers, making access more widespread.

These were also the days of dial-up modems and their tell-tale, grating connecting tone (imagine R2-D2 with a sore throat and cold) while connecting through the home phone landline. Older millennials no doubt remember your folks screaming at you to “stop messing with the computer” so that they could make a call (handphones were rare back then, truly the early days of technology in Singapore).

The need for speed: The broadband era begins (1998)

The limitation of dial-up soon became clear, driving a need for speed. After a successful year-long pilot programme, the Singapore One national broadband network was commercially launched in 1998 and gradually rolled out to households. The technical buzzwords then were “cable” or “ADSL”, two distinct ways to enjoy surfing speeds more than 100 times faster than a dial-up connection. Singapore CableVision (SCV) provided the cable service, which also incorporated cable TV, while Singtel ran the ADSL network through existing phone lines.

Although take-up was slow at the beginning, Singapore eventually became one of the countries with the highest broadband penetration rates, demonstrating the nation’s appetite for fast internet access. Both cable and ADSL began losing popularity and were eventually decommissioned about two decades after their debut, thanks to a new, superior generation of IT network: fibre broadband.

Ubiquity and mobility: Wireless and the smartphone age (2006–2007)

As accessing the internet on the go with laptops became increasingly important, the Government launched Wireless@SG in 2006 to deliver high-speed wireless connectivity in public areas. Over the years, the programme was enhanced with faster surfing speeds and a more seamless login process using SIM card credentials or through the Wireless@SG app.

Today, there are over 6500 hotspots across the islands in locations such as shopping malls, schools, hospitals, MRT stations, hawker centres, and community centres.

The following year, 2007, marked the true beginning of the mobile revolution. The instant popularity of the smartphone—fuelled in part by the iPhone—changed the way we use the internet forever. Seemingly overnight, everyone was carrying a mini-computer with internet access in their pockets.

Commutes instantly transformed into opportunities to be lost in your own world, head bowed over a screen, and debates during lunch over trivial facts were settled instantly by checking Wikipedia.

Fibre and 4G: The foundation of modern digital life (2013)

The current backbone of our network is the fibre broadband network. This infrastructure reached a significant milestone of nationwide coverage in 2013, with easily recognisable bright yellow optical fibre cables deployed to all residential and non-residential premises.

This infrastructure enabled truly fast and furious surfing speeds, quickly pushing Singapore to regularly top global “speediest internet lists”.

Simultaneously, our smartphone adoption became even more acute when all three telcos at that time—Singtel, M1, Starhub—achieved nationwide 4G coverage in 2013. This upgrade made bandwidth-intensive activities like high-definition video streaming possible on the go, cementing mobile internet as a necessity, not a luxury.

The future: 5G and the Smart Nation (beyond 2025)

What’s next for the internet in Singapore? The country is asserting its digital leadership as a tech hub by aiming to have nationwide 5G coverage completed by 2025. Boosting speed and coverage is essential to implementing sophisticated Internet-of-Things (IoT) solutions such as the smart lamppost project, which equips lampposts with sensors to better monitor environmental factors like rainfall and humidity.

As the Singapore government works towards becoming a Smart Nation, the internet will only continue to gain importance, integrating ever deeper into our ICT infrastructure and daily lives. This remarkable history shows just how far we have come, and sets an exciting pace for how far we can still go!

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