Singapore mobile operator M1 will begin building its optical fiber core network by the end of the year.
Chief executive Neil Montefiore said discussions with equipment suppliers were well underway and he expected to issue a contract for the network within "the next few weeks".
The new network, which will cost up to S$80 million ($53 million), will be used primarily for backhaul for the operator's fast-growing HSDPA network
Since launching its high-speed modem service last December, the operator's data load had increased "ninetyfold", Montefiore said.
"Data has grown dramatically, and we realize we have to move quickly towards a packet core," Montefiore said.
The cellco is now spending S$30-$40 million a year on backhaul capacity, mostly from incumbent SingTel.
The network buildout, which will be completed in 2009, will be funded by ongoing operations, Montefiore said. It would be Singapore's third domestic fiber network, competing with SingTel and StarHub.
The fiber will be built in figure eight configuration and augmented with microwave, Montefiore said. It will probably cross the causeway to Malaysia to interconnect with Telekom Malaysia, M1's largest shareholder, for cheaper international bandwidth.
Montefiore said the company considered a Wimax deployment but decided to go with the fiber-microwave because of the huge expected data load. Wimax could be used for some point-to-point deployments, he said.
M1 has also received inquiries from carriers and ISPs interested in leasing wholesale capacity on the new network.
"That's a minor part of it," said Montefiore. If M1 wins the tender for the government's next-gen broadband network (NBN) project the network will likely become the core of that.
The IDA will issue an RFP for the broadband project by the end of the year, a spokesman said.