[h=2]Parliamentary Questions (Oral & Written) 2013
[/h]
by
Lee Li Lian （李丽连） (
Notes) on Saturday, April 13, 2013 at 12:52pm
08042013 - PLANS FOR DEVELOPMENT OF LAND NEXT TO BLOCKS 155 &156, RIVERVALE CRESCENT
Ms Lee Li Lian: To ask the Minister forNational Development whether there areplans for the development of the plot of land next to Blocks 155 and 156 of Rivervale Crescent.
Mr Khaw Boon Wan: The plot of land has been safeguarded for the developmentof the Rivervale Delta HDB estate. HDBlaunched the sale of the flats last November. We expect to complete the construction of the flats by 2016.
08042013 - ADOPTION OF THE INTERNATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATIONUNION’S FRAMEWORK AND METHODOLOGY FOR TELECOMMUNICATION SERVICES
Ms Lee Li Lian: To ask the Minister for Communications and Information(a) what are the reasons that IDA's QoS Standards for 2G and 3G Public CellularMobile Telephone Service (PCMTS) include requirements for signal strength butnot signal quality; and (b) whether IDA will consider adopting the International Telecommunication Union'sframework and methodology for qualitytelecommunication services into the QoS Standards.
Assoc Prof Dr Yaacob Ibrahim: Itis not correct to say that IDA’s QoS framework for 3G mobile telephone servicesdoes not include requirements for signal quality. Mobile operators are requiredto comply with a variety of indicators, including outdoor coverage nation-wide,within buildings, roads and MRT tunnels, as well as call success rates, droppedcall rates and signal strength. These indicators, taken together, provide anindication of signal quality.
The framework already incorporatesrecommendations from the International Telecommunication Union (“ITU”), such ascoverage, dropped call, and call success rates.
IDA has correctly not included technicalspecifications in the ITU’s recommendations that have no relevance toconsumers. For example, the facilitation of global interconnection andinteroperability, or efficiency improvement of international telecommunicationservices.
In setting the QoS framework, IDA ensuresthat the parameters and standards set are meaningful and reflective of theregulatory and policy objectives of the telecommunication regulator. Singaporeis also one of few countries known to have imposed QoS standards ontelecommunication services for compliance purposes. The ITU itself does notrecommend nor require members to create QoS frameworks to protect the consumerinterest.
IDA will regularly review the QoS frameworks.In fact, it has further enhanced the standard from 1 April 2013, where mobileoperators are required to provide at least 85% of coverage within buildings foreach building in Singapore.
08042013 - MONTHLY NETWORK AVAILABILITY FOR PUBLIC CELLULARMOBILE TELEPHONE SERVICES
Ms Lee Li Lian: To ask the Minister forCommunications and Information (a) for the past three months, what are themonthly network availability for Public Cellular Mobile Telephone Services for the three operators in Singapore; (b) why isnetwork availability a compliancerequirement for broadband services but not for Public Cellular Mobile TelephoneServices; and (c) in view of M1's nationwide service outage on 15 January 2013(i) whether the Ministry will providean estimated cost suffered by businesses and consumers as well as loss ofproductivity; and (ii) what can the Ministrydo in the future to ensure that such disruptions do not happen.
Assoc Prof Dr Yaacob Ibrahim: IDA’s Quality of Service(“QoS”) frameworks for mobile telephone services comprise of indicators meantfor operators’ compliance and IDA’s monitoring. As the three mobile telephoneoperators have typically achieved an average of more than 99.9% networkavailability for many years, IDA classified this indicator for monitoringpurposes. SingTel Mobile and StarHub Mobile performed above that benchmark inthe recent months. M1’s network availability remained above 99.9%, except inJanuary 2013 where its network outage caused its performance to dip by about2%.
IDA is investigating the outage to M1’smobile telephone network pursuant to IDA’s Code of Practice forTelecommunication Service Resiliency (“Resiliency Code”). A breach of theResiliency Code carries a penalty of up to $1 million or 10% of Annual GrossTurnover (“AGTO”), whichever is higher. The maximum penalty is thus greaterthan the maximum penalty of $50,000 if IDA had made network availability acompliance indicator, and held the operator accountable for failing to meet theindicator. Singapore’s penalties for disruptions are higher than those in othercountries such as Hong Kong where penalties range from about S$32,000 toS$161,000, and in the UK where penalties are capped at about S$3.77 million.
IDA views M1’s service disruption in January2013 seriously. The disruption affected a wide range of consumers andbusinesses, and thus the perceived value of the disrupted services also variesgreatly. Hence, it is difficult to estimate the impacted costs to users.
IDA is studying the learning points from thisincident, with a focus on preventive measures that can help ensure suchdisruptions do not reoccur in the future. IDA will share theselearning points with the three operators.
08042013 - INDEPENDENT VERIFICATION OF DROP CALL RATES ON MOBILE OPERATORS’ NETWORK TRAFFIC LOGS
Ms Lee Li Lian: To ask the Minister for Communications and Informationwhether the drop call rates for 2012 based on mobileoperators' network traffic logs cited in IDA's Quality of Service (QoS)Standards for 3G Public Cellular Mobile Telephone Service are independentlyverified by IDA or third party experts.
Assoc Prof Dr Yaacob Ibrahim: IDAaudits the operators’ network traffic logs, in order to validate the operators’drop calls rate. IDA also conductsindependent checks on drop call rates across the island, including roads andMRT tunnels.
25022013 - RENTAL FLATS FOR CITIZENS WITH SPOUSES ON LONG-TERM VISIT PASS
Ms Lee Li Lian asked the Minister for National Development what are the reasons for disqualifying a Singapore citizen whose spouse holds a long-term visit pass from applying for a rental flat under HDB's Public Rental Scheme and whether HDB offers alterative housing options for such families.
The Senior Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for National Development (Dr Mohamad Maliki Bin Osman) (for the Minister for National Development): Mdm Speaker, HDB public rental flats are heavily subsidised to help low-income Singapore citizen households who have no other housing options or family support. The HDB rental scheme treats a citizen married to another citizen differently from a citizen married to a foreigner. Nevertheless, HDB will consider the merit of each case and exercise flexibility to help those truly in need.
