SINGAPORE - Cellphone users here are expected to spend US$1.47 billion ($1.85 billion) on faster mobile Internet connections in 2018.
This is almost double what they were spending last year, according to a report released yesterday by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).
Singaporeans spent US$785 million on mobile data access last year, which for the first time exceeded the amount spent on fixed broadband access (US$743 million).
The consulting firm said the rise in spending was driven by more people signing up for 4G plans, a trend seen only in a handful of countries including South Korea and Japan.
"In Singapore, there is an increasing need for faster mobile data access as consumers are used to getting instant e-mail and Facebook updates and video streaming while on the move," said Mr Greg Unsworth, PwC Singapore's technology, media and telecommunications industry leader.
About a quarter of the eight million mobile users here have signed up for 4G services since the technology was introduced two years ago.
Telcos have kept prices for 4G packages the same as 3G ones, although they offer up to four times faster surfing.
However, such promotions are coming to an end. This month, StarHub has started charging an extra $2.14 a month for new and recontracting 4G customers. SingTel and M1 have yet to reveal how much they intend to charge. M1's promotion ends on Dec 31 while SingTel has not indicated an end date.
Even with a fee, Mr Unsworth thinks that consumers will stay on 4G. "Once you have experienced a faster network you would not downgrade to a slower one," he said.
Spending on fixed broadband access is expected to rise to US$968 million in 2018 as more homes and businesses hook up to Singapore's fibre broadband network that is capable of supporting surfing speeds of up to 1Gbps - 10 times faster than conventional technologies. Today, more than 550,000 homes and offices have fibre connections.
The PwC annual Global Entertainment And Media Outlook report also details how the entertainment and media industry will fare over the next four years.
In 2018, Singapore's consumers are expected to spend US$2 billion on services such as video games, video streaming, TV subscriptions and newspapers - up from US$1.73 billion last year. The highest compound annual growth rate of 8.9 per cent is expected to come from online video games.
"There is a very enthusiastic consumer gaming population in Singapore driven by the advanced broadband infrastructure and high take-up of mobile devices, much like in South Korea," said Mr Unsworth.
The PwC report also forecasts that newspapers are likely to continue to get the lion's share of media advertising spending - about US$905 million in 2018, up from US$788 million last year.
This article was first published on June 12, 2014.
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