StarHub clinches SBR Technology Excellence Awards for first outdoor Wi-Fi

It successfully installed the Wi-Fi units across NUS campuses in November 2023.

Telecommunications company StarHub took home the win in the Connectivity - Telecommunications category at the recently held SBR Technology Excellence Awards 2024 for its implementation of Singapore’s first outdoor Wi-Fi, in partnership with the National University of Singapore (NUS).

Powered by solar energy and 5G backhaul, the Wi-Fi units were successfully installed in November 2023 across NUS campuses to achieve 100% coverage. This allows staff and students to move seamlessly from one building to another, indoors to outdoors, without losing network connectivity.

The project’s key success factor is its cost-effective and speedy deployment, as it eliminated the need for underground cables. With installation time reduced by 90% to a mere four days and cost savings of approximately $3m for the campus-wide deployment, NUS’ eco-friendly system utilises solar energy and is 100% self-sustainable, powering the routers, batteries, IoT gateways, and lightning arrestors, whilst delivering strong and reliable connectivity for all users.

This innovation came as NUS needed a solution that allowed staff and students anywhere on campus to be connected to the NUS Wi-Fi, and to access internal resources and information on campus facilities, as the wireless network was limited only to indoors.

Building upon the success of the outdoor Wi-Fi, StarHub also piloted three units of a new connectivity solution – the Wi-Fi on the Move. It is a portable and compact Wi-Fi unit with a battery in a car, drives approximately 20km away from the campus, and is successfully connected to the NUS Wi-Fi to access NUS resources and even make lag-free video calls.

This created the possibility of access to the private corporate network with enterprise-grade security, beyond the confines of a building, and without the need for VPNs or an additional layer of authentication.

This solution boosts the NUS campus security and gives security personnel agility by obsoleting the need to return to their fixed posts to log reports, now that they can do it securely and instantly on the go. It also revolutionises the way NUS researchers do field work, with immediate and secure access to internal resources, as well as logging important information onto the private network with ease.

“We can now have secure and reliable wireless networks that transcend boundaries, to all of Singapore - for teaching, learning, administration, campus security, and research, this means seamless operations and remote-secured connectivity, fulfilling our vision of a truly borderless university,” the institution said.

SBR Technology Excellence Awards recognises exceptional companies in Singapore that are riding the digital disruption wave and leading the technological revolution and digital journeys of their respective industries.

The SBR Technology Excellence Awards is presented by Singapore Business Review Magazine. To view the full list of winners, click here. If you want to join the 2025 awards programme and be acclaimed for your company's outstanding contributions in pursuit of technological innovation, please contact Jane Patiag at [email protected].