SINGAPORE (Sept 1): A newly-formed data-first telecommunications company has joined the race in becoming Singapore’s fourth mobile operator.

AirYotta on Thursday submitted an Expression of Interest (EOI) in the New Entrant Spectrum Auction (NESA) for the x10 in 900MHz and 40 MHz in 2,300MHz spectra with the Infocomm Development Authority (IDA).

The auction’s deadline for submissions was at 5 p.m. on Sept 1.  

Should AirYotta be successful in the bid, it will be launching Singapore’s first 5G LTE Advanced Pro network, which will have an architecture common to 5G. This would be a “critical turning point in Singapore’s journey towards a 5G world”, says the company in a Thursday statement.

Led by chief executive Michael DeNoma and chief technology officer Philip Heah, AirYotta is backed by a regulated, fully-financed fund that is supported by a single investor, and exclusively dedicated to wireless ventures. According to the company, its investor was “galvanised by the company’s digital-first proposition”, and shares its vision for the role a new telco can play in Singapore.

DeNoma is the former CEO of global consumer bank Standard Chartered, while Heah led Singapore's Next Generation Nationwide Broadband Network (NGNBN) Project and the subsequent development of Singapore’s Smart Nation initiative. The latter spent 8 years with the IDA.

“The mobile industry is facing a major disconnect between demand and supply of mobile data capacity, exacerbated by video-streaming, new applications and services, and the Internet of Things (IoT),” states Heah.

“AirYotta is a response to this insatiable demand for data, and will allow Singapore to realise its Smart Nation vision.”

Meanwhile, OMGTel, owned partly by local wireless systems specialist Consistel and widely expected to make a bid, did not submit its application.

Masoud Bassiri, chairman of Consistel, says that ultimately OMGTel could not proceed with its plan to bid for the fourth telco licence, because of a ruling by the Infocomm Development Authority (IDA).

Earlier this month, IDA fined Consistel S$300,000 for breaching its licensing obligations. Consistel had allegedly signed an unauthorised agreement to sell the Sports Hub's telecoms systems, which Consistel had installed, to another company.

"We have filed a reconsideration appeal for that. But we didn't have enough time to go through the process in time to make a bid," says Bassiri.

He hopes to still play a role in the local telecoms scene. "It's unfortunate we couldn't catch this opportunity. I look forward to providing more innovation and I hope that small mistakes or misunderstandings are not going to get in the way of our 25 years serving the local telecoms industry," he says.

Bassiri declined to comment on the funds that had previously been lined up for OMGTel's bid.