Singapore mobile operators launch SMS donation drive

On 03.28.11, In Mobile, By Editor

M1, SingTel and StarHub, and Ericsson’s global mobile commerce enabler IPX, have launched a donation drive to aid victims of the Japan disaster.

As per the donation drive, postpaid mobile customers in Singapore will be able to make a US$3.96, $7.92 or US$15.85 donation by sending SMS to a common short-code.

Donations will go towards the Singapore Red Cross Society’s relief efforts in Japan. This mobile donation campaign will continue for one month, starting from March 28 till April 25.

M1, SingTel, StarHub and Ericsson have jointly agreed to waive all administration fees associated with such premium SMS, and forward the full proceeds to the relief organization. The donations will be reflected in customers’ next monthly bill from their respective mobile service providers. Donations are not tax-deductible and people below the age of eighteen will require parental or guardian consent before making a donation.

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IDA penalizes SingTel (Singapore)

On 01.17.11, In Mobile, By Editor

Singapore’s largest carrier, Singapore Telecommunications (SingTel) has been penalized with fines totaling US$101,000 by Singapore’s regulatory body, the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA).

The fines are believed to have stemmed from a wholesale broadband promotion SingTel had offered during the last quarter of 2009. SingTel had apparently breached regulations for competition in the telecommunications sector by offering wholesale discounted prices for its 4 Mbps and 10 Mbps services to only one ISP, while keeping the others in the dark.

The relevant ISPs could include rivals Starhub and M1 as well as SingNet, SingTel’s internet unit. The IDA had started investigations after receiving a complaint from another ISP.

According to reports, the IDA had fined SingTel $50,000 for not informing other eligible ISPs of the promotion, an act the IDA deemed ‘discriminatory’. SingTel was further fined $80,000, bringing the total to $130,000, for offering the same wholesale broadband promotion without seeking approval from the IDA, as was required due to its position as the dominant player. While SingTel had informed the IDA of the price changes, the carrier had not indicated that the 4 Mbps and 10 Mbps services formed part of the promotion.

According to SingTel spokesperson, aspects of the wholesale broadband promotion had been left out during the approval seeking process due to a genuine oversight, SingTel would continue to view and tighten its internal processes. SingTel has paid the fines.

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Singapore to auction residual 3G spectrum

On 09.22.10, In Mobile, By Editor

Singapore will auction remaining 3G mobile spectrum in November. According to the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA), the auction of three lots of additional bandwidth will start on Nov. 15 and the reserve price has been set at S$20 million each.

The proposed auction for the remaining 3G spectrum started with strong conflict from the three local telcos–SingTel, M1 and StarHub, who were allotted these 3G spectrum , citing reasons that there is the lack of demand as seen in the previous auction, and the operators have already put a large amount of investment  in  developing 3G capabilities. The three telcos also cautioned that consumers may ultimately have to bear higher prices which will be determined by the auction.

In response to the claims by these three telcos , IDA noted that even if the remaining 3G lots were to be redistributed between the existing market players, there is no guarantee prices will be kept low as telcos typically peg their services according to market rates. The operators are expected to charge end-users a price they think the market can bear independent of the cost of the 3G spectrum lots. The one-time payment for the spectrum will likely be regarded by operators as done for cost and unlikely to be passed on to consumers.

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StarHub and M1 offer more iPhones on Christmas (Singapore)

On 12.07.09, In Mobile, By Editor

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: StarHub and M1 are coming up with Christmas gifts for the people by bringing out more iPhones from Wednesday and offering lower handset prices and more generous phone packages to sign up users. Both  telco’s announced their plans and pricing for the Apple product.

Depending on the phone model and plan chosen, StarHub customers will have to pay something between nothing to $668, the plan starting at $38 monthly. M1 customers will also have to pay between nothing to $668, with its iPhone starting at $36.

M1 which is the smallest mobile operator of Singapore and has been losing its market share has also offered a package with 10GB of mobile data for its entry-level $36 a month packages, which is 10 times of StarHub’s offer and 20 times SingTel’s. Telecom operator Singtel was the first to offer latest iPhone 3GS to its customers, selling them at $678.

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