Singapore telcos begin shift to standalone 5G as nationwide achieved

Singapore’s mobile operators have begun migrating their customers to standalone (SA) 5G services, marking the next phase of the country’s 5G roll-out with all four operators having achieved nationwide coverage.

The Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) told The Business Times that despite having achieved full SA coverage, some mobile network operators have been allowed to continue using their older non-SA (NSA) networks during the transition even as they deploy the 5G-SA.

This arrangement was made so consumers can enjoy some early benefits of 5G services, said IMDA.

IMDA, which set out its vision for Singapore to use 5G-SA networks in 2020, said the following year that the infrastructure was on track to cover the whole nation by the end of 2025.

The 5G-SA, which runs on dedicated 5G infrastructure, enables greater capacity, speed and more consistent network performance.

With nationwide SA networks now in place, operators began migrating their customers from NSA to SA services in 2026, the regulator added.

Varying pace of transition
However, the pace of the transition away from NSA infrastructure has varied among the telco operators.

M1 and StarHub have already achieved full 5G-SA transition.

StarHub said it dropped its 5G-NSA network on May 31; M1 said all its 5G sites were now operating on SA.

M1 added that it is also supporting the mobile virtual network operators using its infrastructure: Circles.Life already leverages M1’s 5G-SA, and MyRepublic is still using the 4G one.

M1 shares 5G infrastructure with StarHub through Antina, their network-sharing joint venture, in an arrangement that gives both operators access to shared 5G-SA capacity even as they compete for retail customers.

Responding to media queries, Singtel said that “only a very small proportion of customers remain on 5G NSA”, but did not confirm a date for its NSA retirement.

Australian-listed Tuas Limited, the holding company of Simba, did not respond to BT’s queries.

Some analysts expect the industry-wide transition away from NSA networks to be completed by mid-2026, although this is still up in the air.

Simba’s spectrum position in focus
This transition has put Simba’s spectrum position in the spotlight.

Simba had its merger with M1 called off in May, and is currently under investigation for the usage of unauthorised spectrum.

Sachin Mittal, analyst from DBS Research Group, said that Simba’s 5G-SA-capable spectrum is thin, relative to that of other operators in Singapore.

The growing active mobile customer base, coupled with the thin spectrum capacity, means that Simba’s customers may experience patchier and weaker Internet connectivity indoors.

Industry under pressure
This transition comes at a time when Singapore’s telco industry finds its profit margins shrinking amid intense price competition.

The mobile average revenue per user (ARPU) has fallen by between 36 and 41 per cent since 2017, noted a Maybank Research report in 2025.

The report also said that Singapore’s ARPU is now 15 to 40 per cent below that of its developed Asia-Pacific peers.

Share prices of local telcos are also taking a hit: Shares of Singtel have fallen 3.1 per cent in the year to date; StarHub’s went down 9.7 per cent over the same period.

Nonetheless, the telco market might see some relief in a potential market consolidation.

Analysts say a merger between M1 and StarHub remains likely, further supported by the network-sharing agreement between the two mobile network operators.

On the other hand, a Singtel-Simba merger, while floated, remains unlikely because of Singtel’s dominant market position.

Bloomberg Intelligence data showed that as at June, Singtel was leading the mobile market with 43 per cent of market share; M1 had 22 per cent, StarHub had 21 per cent, and Simba, 14 per cent. BusinessTimes