Underground rail to be upgraded

Andrew has won a major contract to upgrade the existing communications infrastructure on one of Singapore’s mass rapid transit rail lines to support a third-generation wireless network — the first 3G service for an underground radio network in Singapore.

As part of this project, Andrew will work with IntraWave, the infrastructure service provider for commercial wireless services on the North East Line of Singapore’s MRT rail network.

The existing communications infrastructure, which Andrew designed and was activated in 2002, supports only second-generation, or 2G, mobile devices. This upgrade is designed to provide North East Line commuters with better overall wireless coverage and reception, as well as greater bandwidth and download speeds when using 3G mobile devices.

This is intended to enable commuters to make full use of mobile applications such as video calls, video and music downloads and internet services.

The company will provide an end–to-end service for IntraWave, from designing and manufacturing the required system components to on-site installation. It will use its ION-M fibre distributed antenna system in the underground, with remote units installed at each of the line’s 16 stations connecting into the ION system for 2G and 3G coverage throughout.