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National University of Singapore
A Project Report
Associate Professor Benjamin Lian
Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for
IS3220
Service Science
By
Chik Jun Qi; A0099141A
Gu Yanlong; A0103582M
Khushnaz R Karai; A0101415B
Ti Jie Bo; A0101774L
Wang Kexin; A0105763H
Singapore
26 April 2014

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The telecommunication industry has been stagnating in recent years as the telecoms market is reaching its brim. The once lucrative business of calls and SMSes are eroding due to the adoption of Internet services such as Skype and WhatsApp. Moreover, advances in network technologies such as the 4G LTE have only served to increase cannibalisation between similar services. Hence, telecommunications companies have been eager to innovate with their peripheral resources to improve their business operations. This paper looks at the specific problems that plague these companies and the service innovations that develop when companies harness the synergy of
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otherwise fragmented technological assets.
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1. Telecommunication in Singapore
1.1 Introduction
1.2 Industry Analysis
2. SingTel: Company Analysis
2.1 Business Drivers
2.2 Stakeholders
2.3 SWOT analysis
2.4 Background Summary
3. Challenges
3.1 Reduce Customer Attrition
3.2 Improve Production Possibility Capacity
3.3 SingTel Mobile Application
4. SingTel Life: The Connection
4.1 Main Features
4.2 Mobile Application Functions
4.3 Beacons in Shopping Malls
5. Service Innovation
6. Benefits
6.1 SingTel
6.2 SingTel Customers
6.3 Merchants and Dining Places in Shopping Malls
7. Service Blueprint
7.1 Use Case 1 - Gift Redemption
7.2 Use Case 2 - Restaurant Search
7.3 Use Case 3 - Push Notification
7.4 Analysis
8. Technical Feasibility
9. Service Architecture
10. Conclusion
11. References
12. Appendices
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1.1 Introduction
The telecommunications industry is a revolutionary and empowering industry that helps people bridge distances and makes mundane daily activities convenient. However, with the rapid advancement in technology, innovations seem commonplace and feel like variations of past technologies. In an arena where telecom colossi scramble for what is left of “point of differentiation”, progress in merely technology will not help a telecom company stand out.
The Singapore telecom industry is a classic representation of such a situation. While showing significant growth over the past years, even surpassing many others in the Asia region, its small geographical landscape and population size has resulted in an oligopolistic market dominated by three players namely SingTel, StarHub and M1. The minor differences between these 3 major contenders can only be found in the price and name of their phone and internet plans. Seeing that the core product of telecom companies is the service they provide, this paper aims to innovate towards a new service dimension to overcome the saturation in the telecom industry. For the scope of this paper, SingTel shall be the company of interest.
1.2 Industry Analysis
The Michael Porter’s 5 Forces model is used to analyse the players involved and the dynamics between the major players. This will provide a deeper understanding of the competitive landscape
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of the telecoms industry in Singapore.
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Bargaining
Power of
Suppliers: Low
3 Forces of Horizontal Competition
Suppliers in the telecom industry only provide tangible products, like
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the phone and routers. In the Singapore telecom industry, there are !
many suppliers serving only three telecom companies. As such telecom companies are akin to their retailer and suppliers would lose out if they
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only offer their hardware to selected telecom companies. In addition, !
the switching cost for a telecom company to change a alternative
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supplier is low. As such, hardware suppliers lack the power to determine the price and, hence, have limited bargaining power against
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telecom companies.
The bargaining power of consumers is high as the services provided by the three competing companies are minute and readily replaceable.
Bargaining
Power of Buyers:
High
Hence, the trio of companies are often relentless in securing return contracts, giving the bargaining power to customers. While majority of the consumers enter a contractual term with the telecom company, many last no more than two years and will re-enter the market after the term.
The telecom industry is one that is segmented by geography hence, the direct competitors of SingTel are mainly Starhub and M1. The market
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Degree of
Market Rivalry:
Very High for telecom service in Singapore is very saturated with high competitive intensity (Investopedia) as each player tries different methods of differentiating itself from other players. This implies that the market competition will be driven by point of differentiation instead of pricing.
And in the case of the telecom industry, it is the unique service it can offer to the customers.
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Potential
Entrants: Low
2 Forces of Vertical Competition
As the telecom market has high barriers of entry, the threat of new entrants is low. The high barriers of entry are due mainly to the high infrastructure costs. Moreover, large companies like SingTel and
StarHub have the resources to conduct elaborate marketing and price wars whereas smaller companies do not have such resources and are unlikely to partake in the marketing arena. As a result, they are likely to lose out in terms of brand identification. Thus, high overheads, coupled with aggressive competition within the market forms high barriers to prospective entrants.
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Degree of
Substitute: Low
The threat of substitutes for telecom companies is low as there are few substitutes. Also, substitutes’ attractiveness depend largely on the buyer’s preferences. In this age of swift technology advancement, it is easy to match the new technologies of rival companies. Therefore, it is hard to for rival companies to deal substantial damage.
From the Porter’s Five analysis, it is clear that the Singapore telecom industry is one that is highly saturated with intense competition. Companies also have little incentive to conduct technology
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R&D as their efforts will be quickly matched by their rivals.
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2.1 Business Drivers
To have a better understanding of SingTel, these are several important business drivers in the telecommunication industry.
Technology
The SingTel’s Annual Report 2013 illustrates the importance of technology to SingTel’s telecommunications business. The pie chart below shows the revenue generated by SingTel’s products and services in 2013 (SingTel, 2014). As seen, almost 30% of SingTel’s annual revenue is generated by Mobile communications, 25% by Data and Internet, while another 23% by IT and
Engineering. These three main revenue components collectively account for 77% of SingTel’s total revenue.
Figure 1 — SingTel’s Revenue
IS3220 Project Report: SingTel Life
29% Mobile Communications
25% Data and Internet
23% IT and Engineering
7% International Telephone
5% National Telephone
5% Sale of Equipment
2% mio TV
4% Others
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Customer Satisfaction
Customer satisfaction is a key driver of SingTel’s business performance. Satisfied customers are more likely to return to the services and products that SingTel provides. SingTel aims to provide quality and efficient customer service in order to increase customer satisfaction. SingTel also recognises the importance of retaining its
Figure 2 — SingTel’s
Reward Program current customers by building customer loyalty. SingTel aims to achieve this endeavour with its current customer loyalty program—SingTel Rewards Program. By offering extra service excellence, SingTel is able to increase its customer retention and customer satisfaction.
Employee
Employee, the primary driving force of the company, is of vital importance to SingTel’s operation as high quality employees translates to high service quality. In a bid to improve employee’s performance, SingTel has developed varied leadership programs, such as the SingTel Management
Associate Program, aimed to enhance employee’s skills and knowledge.
Marketing Strategy
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SingTel uses various marketing strategies to reach out and endear to its target customers. One key strategy is SingTel’s market segmentation. By targeting different customer segments of different telecoms needs with different price plan, SingTel is able to gain more market share in the telecommunication market. SingTel has also been successful at utilising its resources to market themselves as a ubiquitous and reliable brand name in Singapore. By organising events like the
“SingTel Hawker Heroes Challenge” to the “2013 Formula 1 SingTel Singapore Grand Prix
Race”, SingTel has been able to gain brand identity in an attempt to distinguish itself from its competition.
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2.2 Stakeholders
There are four main stakeholders of SingTel that are significantly concerned with SingTel’s operations. These are the four stakeholders, with the inter-dependent relationship with SingTel:
Customer
As consumers of SingTel’s products and services, customers are of utmost importance to SingTel.
SingTel has to reach out to customers, understand their needs and respond to their feedback through product innovation or service improvement. On the other hand, customers derive their utility from the quality of SingTel’s network capabilities and its other peripheral services.
Telecom Regulator
The telecom regulator in Singapore is Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA). IDA supports and works with both start-up and global leading information technology companies, aiming to develop a vibrant infocomm ecosystem in Singapore (IDA, 2014). Any telecommunication related regulations published by IDA will affect the operation of SingTel and vice versa. Thus, SingTel needs to engage with government bodies and regulators regularly to update its business direction and to influence industry developments.
Investors
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Investors provide SingTel with capital and they are concerned about the return on the investment.
The better SingTel perform on their business end, the higher return investors can receive. SingTel uses these capital invested to develop their business. The more capital it receives, the faster it can grow. Thus, investors have a big influence in SingTel’s business process.
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Global Vendors
SingTel has business operations across 25 countries and has a close relationship with its global vendors. SingTel needs vendors like Huawei to provide basic service hardware to assist its services. For example, Huawei provides SingTel with broadband hardware while SingTel provides broadband connection service to customers. Moreover, digital devices vendors like Apple also requires SingTel to provide mobile connection or Internet services for their devices.
2.3 SWOT Analysis
The SWOT analysis is used to understand the internal and external factors that impact SingTel.
This will enable the identification of the problems that plague SingTel’s growth and also capture the opportunities that SingTel can capitalise on.
Strengths
Market leader in Singapore’s mobile segment Declining Average Revenue per User
Highest street level 3G service coverage and Ugly PR episode in sudden reduction of data call success rate
Opportunities bundle
Weaknesses
Threats
LTE market in its infancy stage (penetration Saturating 3G mobile market in Singapore rate) Possible new entrants in the LTE service
Customer base in mobile market continues to coverage
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grow
Strengths
Market leader in Singapore’s mobile segment
Statistics at the end of June 2012 showed that SingTel Mobile remained the market leader with a
46.4% market share (Business Monitor International, 2012). Being the industry leader, SingTel can reap many benefits such as lower sales cost, economies of scale and greater brand loyalty.
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Highest street level 3G service coverage and call success rate
In the Quality of Service reports conducted by the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore
(IDA), SingTel Mobile had the highest street-level 3G service coverage and call success rate in
2013 as compared to its competitors, at 99.42%. In addition, SingTel’s SingNet easily outpaced its competitors in network latency (IDA, 2013). This premium status puts SingTel in the forefront in terms of service quality.
Weaknesses
Declining Average Revenue per User (ARPU)
Since Dec 2010, the ARPU of Singtel has dropped due to lower roaming traffic and more customers taking up discounted bundle service (Business Monitor International, 2012). The trend of declining ARPU is not expected to reverse as customers are starting to make the cost effective switch to data charges instead of the more lucrative phone calls and messaging. Also, the intense market competition within the telecoms industry meant that SingTel can do little about its pricing strategy.
Ugly PR episode in sudden reduction of data bundle
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In mid-2012, Singtel announced their decision to reduce data cap of regular users from 12GB to
2GB. This move was made in respond to the introduction of LTE networks and to avoid overloading the bandwidth. However, the episode enraged many members of the public.
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Opportunities
LTE market in its infancy stage
9 months since its inception, LTE subscription has increased by 113%, which distinctly outdoes the 3.9% growth in total mobile subscription in the same period (Statistics on Telecomm Services for 2013 (Jan - Jun), 2013). In terms of LTE subscriptions over total mobile subscription, LTE subscriptions increased from 10.9% in Mar 13 to 22.3% in Nov 13. While, this still pales in comparison to the total (postpaid + prepaid) 3G subscription rate which accounts for 63.9% of all mobile subscriptions, the LTE market is expected to increase steadily in the foreseeable future as the 3G market makes way for the LTE market. i
Refer to Appendix A for graphs of SingTel’s Mobile Phone Penetration Rate (MPPR) and 3G mobile subscriptions.
Customer base in mobile market continues to grow
Mobile phone penetration rate (MPPR) represents the total number of mobile subscriptions over the total population. The MPPR has increased steadily over the past decade and is not expected to decline in the foreseeable future. The introduction of LTE service and decreasing costs of operating 3G networks is likely to build on the upward momentum of the MPPR.
Threats
Saturating 3G market in Singapore
Based on the latest figures provided by the IDA, there were a total of 5.539 million 3G subscribers in 3Q13. The number of 3G mobile subscriptions peaked at 6.480 million at 4Q12 and has experienced a decline in subscriptions three quarters in a row. This decline represents a saturated
3G market in Singapore that can be expected to continue as LTE service grows in the foreseeable
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future.
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Possible new entrants in the LTE service coverage
Though SingTel, StarHub and M1 are the dominant telecoms providers in Singapore, the IDA is keen to introduce new entrants, which are defined as any operator that does not provide nationwide mobile system and service coverage. The IDA is proposing to set aside 2x20MHz in the 2.5GHz band, for which only new entrants will be eligible to bid. Additionally, new entrants will be given more time to provide nationwide coverage.
2.4 Summary of Background Analysis
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As seen from the SWOT analysis, there are several weaknesses and threats that serves as challenges for SingTel.
In summary, it can be seen that market is too saturated with companies reaching their max capacity for production.
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Similar to the illustration in the Production possibility frontier (PPF) graph (Figure 3), SingTel has reached the maximum production possibility (point A for example). In order for it to rise above its competitors and move to point Y, it has to make service innovations with its current technologies.
Figure 3 — Production
Possibility Frontier
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In this section, the analysis conducted in the previous section will be used to identify the problems that riddle SingTel and its competitors.
3.1
Reduce Customer Attrition
As seen in the Porter’s Five Forces analysis, the almost indistinguishable service from the three telecoms companies has given customers great bargaining power. The relative ease of switching one’s service provider meant that SingTel has to constantly offer promotions or vouchers in order to coax existing customer into re-signing a new contract. Thus, reducing customer attrition has always been a foremost challenge for SingTel.
In addition, the oligopolistic market structure in Singapore’s telecoms industry meant that SingTel had to rely on non-pricing factors to distinguish itself from its competitors. SingTel recognises this constraint and relies heavily on excellent marketing as a business driver to reduce churn rate while attracting new users. However, this two-prong approach has not been effective nor sustainable in mitigating this challenge. Customers in the market will readily switch to a competing company if there are better benefits and this competition will quickly spiral into a race to the bottom. In addition, SingTel’s efforts in drumming up awareness is often overshadowed by ugly PR episodes, mitigating all previous efforts to gather goodwill. Hence, SingTel’s relentless efforts to endear its brand name to the public has not yielded the desired effects SingTel had hoped it to.
3.2
Improve Production Possibility Capacity
A number of factors point to the fact that SingTel, and the telecoms industry itself, is reaching the production possibility frontier and is in dire need of innovation. The declining ARPU of SingTel as seen in the SWOT analysis further reinforces the idea that SingTel and other telecoms companies has been left with little elbow room due to cannibalisation within its own network services. Hence, the second principle challenge of SingTel is to identify new service innovations in order to improve its production possibility capacity.
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SingTel has struggled with users switching from 3G to 4G, calls to Skype, and SMS to WhatsApp that invariably lowers its profit margins. SingTel’s attempt to prevent cannibalisation by charging a premium for its 4G services was stopped by iDA (ChannelNewsAsia, 2014) who cited a lack of transparency in price charges. Hence, it is unlikely for SingTel to develop new pricing strategies for its telecoms services in the foreseeable future.
3.3
SingTel Mobile Applications i
Refer to Appendix B for the a list and summary of the main Singtel mobile applications, as well as a summary of the functionality of each application.
From the above challenges, SingTel needs a service innovation that revolves around its current technologies and capabilities. SingTel’s peripheral products and services includes a host of mobile applications that are pre-installed in its phones. These applications are developed by SingTel and are pre-installed in most pre-paid phones. They are aimed to provide a better customer service and a more immersive SingTel experience, as well as to possibly increase SingTel’s PPF.
However, these mobile applications lack of coherence and some are not well-developed. Because the apps started off as standalone developments which were later bought over by SingTel, the databases are not integrated. There are overlaps within different apps, creating a confusing and unintuitive experience for the users therefore, not accomplishing the desired goal of increasing
SingTel’s PPF.
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By developing these mobile applications, SingTel is exploring its peripheral business activities to cooperate with different companies. For example, SingTel works with Singapore malls and merchants in making use of SGMall and HungryGoWhere. These mobile applications are generally convenient and useful for customers in their basic functions, but lack coherence. Several applications also show room for further development to meet customer demand and expectations.
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SingTel Life is a service innovation that utilises SingTel’s existing suite of mobile applications to build a connection with its customers and develop an ecosystem that users will gravitate to.
6.1
Main Features i
Refer to Appendix C for background information on the new technologies that will be incorporated into SingTel Life.
To improve accessibility to the various mobile application functions offered by SingTel, SingTel
Life will be an all-in-one mobile application that consolidates the main features from several important applications. These applications include My SingTel, HungryGoWhere, SGMall,
SingTel mWallet, AMPed and deF!ND. The current applications also have much room for improvement, which SingTel Life will be targeting to resolve. SingTel Life also aims to increase customer satisfaction by providing a better reward point system and ease of spending them. New technologies such as the indoor positioning system and usage of beacons will also be incorporated to the application.
6.2
Mobile Application Functions
SingTel Life consists of several tabs which users can swipe to access. SingTel Life is an exclusive benefit that is only offered to SingTel customers, and thus require a SingTel account to log in to the application for usage. The current SingTel account for SingTel customers is a ONEPASS, which users of MySingTel may already have. Personal details and their SingTel phone number will be required for a ONEPASS account sign-up. After logging in, the main tabs of SingTel Life
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will be available to the SingTel users.
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TOP BAR (PROFILE)
User can edit their personal details and customise their profile.
TOP BAR (NOTIFICATIONS)
List of application’s past notifications will be listed here.
PHONE MONTHLY PLAN
Further details on the user’s phone plan will be shown here. Options to upgrade their plan and other plan details will be available too.
NAVIGATION INSTRUCTIONS
Usage instructions appear as a pop up to aid new users.
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Figure 4.1 — Home
These are the main tabs of SingTel Life, as well as the available features in each tab:
Refer to Appendix D for screenshots of the login screen, sample profile page and main pages of the different tabs in SingTel Life.
Home
The home tab (Figure 4.1) consists of the basic details of the customer’s monthly usage. SingTel customers can easily check their current usage of each month as they log into the application.
Details on display include their outgoing call time, short messages service (SMS) count, as well as their current data usage spent. The SingTel red rewards points of the user will also be shown in this tab.
Profile
SingTel users can edit their personal details here. For merchants to recognise the customer, users can make certain information public, create a wish-list and even state their preferences for products. With information of the user, merchants can customise suitable promotions for these customers. A list of past searches and activities, redeemed retail coupons and reward points expiry date can also be found in the user’s profile. Users can also choose to receive notifications of reward points expiry and new special offers available for redemption.
IS3220 Project Report: SingTel Life 17

Food
The food tab caters to various needs of users looking for dining places.
With functions akin to the current HungryGoWhere, users can filter their searches by ratings, locations, type of cuisine and more. Search lists can be filtered further by dining places that holds affiliation with SingTel.
Affiliated restaurants will be shown with a red circle at the side, with the cost of reward points for redemption of food vouchers (Figure 4.2). After redemption of reward, reward points will be deducted from the user’s account and an e-coupon will be stored in the application. Customers may also make a reservation through the application directly with their personal details already loaded in the application. For dining places that are located in shopping malls, users may also choose to obtain indoor directions to the exact dining place. The indoor positioning system set up in shopping malls
Figure 4.2 — A ffi liated
Restaurants will allow for detailed direction voice guidance to be provided to the user (Figure 4.3).
Shopping
Figure 4.3 — Indoor
Voice Guidance
Similar to the food tab, the shopping tab has various search filters that are designed for the user’s convenience. Users can search by malls, location, brand names, category, check out latest promotions or new shops in shopping malls. Affiliated brands with rewards redemption available will also be shown in search lists. The shopping tab will provide the indoor direction guidance feature as well. With route planners for users navigating their way around the mall, users can easily obtain specific directions to the shop of their choice. Based on personal preferences stated in the users’ profile, merchants can also notify users of suitable customised promotions when users are within range of their shop, hence making their shopping trip more enjoyable and rewarding.
IS3220 Project Report: SingTel Life 18

Payment
The payment tab serves as a digital wallet for SingTel Life users.
Users can store their redeemed coupons and vouchers, credit cards for payment, or even their EZ-link for quick top-up via the application. Stored credit cards will allow for users to make quick contactless payments, using their phone to make a tap-and-go transaction (Figure 4.4). This will work with banks in Singapore that supports virtual credit cards on mobile phones. Redeemed coupons and vouchers will also be kept in this tab for accessibility of the user during payment. SingTel prepaid card users may also
Figure 4.4 — Contactless
Payment top up their prepaid card using their credit card details stored in the application.
Music
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The music tab serves as an entertainment for users of SingTel Life. Other than providing latest hit songs and customised playlists for users, features from the current AMPed will be available too.
With song recognition from the application for identifying a played song, users can choose between purchasing the song via the application or locating the nearest music CD store around them. For users in the shopping mall, direction guidance will be available to the user as well to find the shortest path to the shop.
IS3220 Project Report: SingTel Life 19

4.3
Beacons in Shopping Malls
The beacons serve as a crucial component for the functions of SingTel Life. These beacons will be used not only for indoor navigation guidance, but also for merchants in shopping malls to offer personalised discounts for customers within range. These beacons can also notify dining places of the arrival of customers who have made a reservation. Beacons will be set up for every shop in the shopping mall, which both SingTel and the mall merchants can benefit from. The below diagram shows how beacons would be set up in each shop or dining place, and how merchants can utilise these beacons for their operations (Figure 6).
CUSTOMERS IN THE VENUE
Merchants can learn what the customer is browsing at and send them a personalised discount for the day to encourage purchase.
CONTACTLESS PAYMENT
Customer can make a tap-and-go payment with their mobile phones.
Quick payments will enable shorter queuing time for busy customers.
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CUSTOMERS WITHIN RANGE OF VENUE
Merchants can identify customers with their profile and greet them by name or suitable offers of the day. Dining places will be notified if a customer with reservation is near the shop, and prepare their service accordingly.
CUSTOMER’S INTEREST
Merchants or dining places can cross-sell or up-sell their products based on a customer’s interest. Promotions of other products or dishes that complements their intended purchases can be offered to the customer.
Figure 4.5 — Usage of Beacons
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SingTel Life aims to meet the various needs of SingTel customers, while improving SingTel’s service quality with a user-friendly and competitive approach. From the problems and challenges identified from SingTel's current situation, SingTel Life aims to deliver its service electronically while maintaining key interactions with its customers. SingTel Life is designed to enhance customer experience with SingTel’s red rewards, while providing convenience to its users in both an effective and efficient way.
Looking at SingTel’s current technological capabilities, SingTel Life already has various mobile applications that provides several functions of SingTel Life. However, these applications holds no connection to many of SingTel’s services, and are fragments of technology that can be put together to SingTel's advantage. SingTel Life brings the key features of these applications together as an exclusive service for SingTel customers while adopting technological innovation with beacons and indoor positioning system to improve its services.
Putting customer satisfaction as a priority with its service delivery, SingTel Life elevates SingTel’s
Red Rewards Program with an innovative service concept that helps SingTel distinguishes itself
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from its competitors.
IS3220 Project Report: SingTel Life 21

6.1
SingTel
The main benefit that SingTel will stand to gain would be the value obtained from the synergy between different technologies. With focus on providing an exclusive, customer-oriented service for SingTel customers, SingTel can build on their customers’ loyalty and create a tight-knit ecosystem. This can lower the rate of customer attrition too as switching costs will be increased by customers losing their customer benefits. In the long run, this will potentially increase their revenue too.
SingTel Life will also provide a new market for SingTel to expand into, where they can set up beacons for shopping malls and offer indoor positioning services. This also addresses the challenge of improving production possibility capacity. SingTel Life differentiates SingTel from its competitors, and it is not easily replicable by its competitors.
6.2
SingTel Customers
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SingTel customers can receive numerous customer benefits as users of SingTel Life, from convenience in their daily activities to exclusive deals and offers. SingTel Life will also serve as a better developed reward system for customers, with a larger variety of rewards for redemption.
The reward point expiry notification will also aid customers in spending their rewards points within the valid period and allow them to gain the most from the reward system.
Figure 6 — SingTel Life Logo
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6.3
Merchants and Dining Places in Shopping Malls
SingTel Life will enhance customer-supplier intimacy, narrowing the gap between merchants and their consumers. For shopping mall with beacons set up in the shops, more customers will be interested in the mall for promotions and to spend their reward points. Customer satisfaction will be increased as they save on both time and money during their shopping experience. The indoor positioning system will also ensure that customers can find their desired shop with ease and prevent new shopping malls from losing busy customers in need of speedy shopping trips.
Merchants and dining places can also ensure that their services and products cater to various groups of customers and provide more exclusive services for their own loyal customers to increase brand loyalty. Shops and dining places can reduce queuing time too, and reduce the number of
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busy customers leaving the shop due to long payment time.
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In this section, the Service Blueprint is used to describe the service processes SingTel Life has to offer. Looking at 3 Use Cases to explore the variability one can achieve using SingTel Life, there are a few key points to be identified — the moments of truth, possible failure and pain points, as well as possible revenue generation opportunities. The Service Blueprint will also demonstrates how SingTel Life is realised through the collaboration of one or more of SingTel’s current repertoire of apps. While the Use Cases are certainly not exhaustive, the aim is to demonstrate the synergy from integrating distinct yet complementary applications into one SingTel Life.
IS3220 Project Report: SingTel Life 23

7.1
Use Case 1 – Gift Redemption
This Use Case sees a user who wishes to make use of his/her RedPoints to redeem a gift. The user then makes use of SingTel Life to find suitable merchants to get the gift and, subsequently, make a redemption (Figure 7.1).
Figure 7.1 — Use Case 1
Four moments of truth are identified in Use Case 1 where customer-merchant interaction occurs.
Of which, the user interacts directly with the app on two occasions. This user-app interaction is a recurring theme that resonates throughout these three Use Cases as SingTel Life acts as a information hub between customer and merchants. Hence, users often receive physical service contact only at the latter stage of the service process as evident in Use Case 1.
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One possible failure point within Use Case 1 occurs at the Gift Selection. There exists a real, albeit small, possibility that the user is unable to find a gift to his/her liking, hence rendering the entire service process moot.
The first pain point emerges at Shop Navigation. In the event the mall does not support Indoor
Positioning System (IPS), SingTel Life would not be able to advise users on the directions to the merchant. Hence, users will have to navigate around using the shop directory within the mall. This could potentially slow down the service flow, creating a pain point. The second pain point occurs at Gift Preparation. It emerges as the merchant shop could be entertaining a large crowd, thus slowing down the redemption process, creating the second pain point.
To reconcile the identified pain points, the adoption of beacons covered in earlier sections can be put to use. By utilising beacons, indoor navigation can be realised confidently and accurately, thereby mitigating the first pain point. Beacons can also remotely identify users, alerting shopkeepers of their presence inside the mall. Shopkeepers can then prepare the gift beforehand when the crowd is thinner, hence alleviating the second pain point.
As SingTel Life is, ultimately, an ecosystem that brings customers and merchants under one roof, revenue generation opportunities comes from the setting up of support infrastructure as well as the commission earned from all transactions. As seen in Use Case 1, SingTel can monetise from the setting up of beacons for the IPS as well as commission fee earned from all SingTel Life
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related transactions.
IS3220 Project Report: SingTel Life 25

7.2
Use Case 2 – Restaurant Search
This Use Case depicts a customer who is out and looking for suitable places to eat. The customer then utilises SingTel Life to search for restaurants in the vicinity. SingTel Life is able to search and return a list of nearby eateries as well as accompanying promotions or coupons. The user makes a reservation and makes use of the promotions after enjoying the meal (Figure 7.2).
Figure 7.2 — Use Case 2
Nine moments of truth are identified in Use Case 2, of which, the customer interacts directly with SingTel Life on five occasions. Similar to Use Case 1, user-app interaction accounts for half of the moments of truth and mostly occurs in the former half of the service blueprint.
A possible failure point emerges at Searching for Nearby Restaurants similar to that in Use Case
1. There exist a possibility that the user is unable to find a restaurant to his/her liking, hence derailing the service process.
Three possible pain points can be identified in Use Case 2. If the location of the user is unknown due to the lack of IPS or GPS signals, SingTel Life will not be able to return a list of nearby restaurants. Instead, the user will have to input his/her location directly into the app, slowing the process. The lack of IPS or GPS would also hinder the user’s navigation efforts, hence creating a
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second pain point in Navigation. The last pain point emerges at Food Preparation where the restaurant is unable to handle the crowd, hence disrupting the service flow.
Likewise, the effectiveness of beacon technology is evaluated in reconciling these pain points. The use of beacons will, once again, elegantly eliminate first and second pain points that is identified by accurately locating the user’s current whereabouts. However, due to the nature of the F&B industry, restaurateurs cannot prepare the food in advance, hence the use of beacons will have little effect in mitigating the third pain point. Instead, SingTel Life’s reservation system can be utilised to alleviate this problem. By giving restaurateurs an estimate on the expected crowd, they can take preemptive measures to handle the in-coming crowd. Nevertheless, this solution is inadequate in alleviating spontaneous walk-in crowds. Hence, this pain point can be expected to persist.
The main revenue generation opportunities for Use Case 2 lie with the servicing of infrastructure of SingTel Life as well as the commission fee earned as middleman for SingTel Life related transactions. This is consistent with what we explored in Use Case 1.
7.3
Use Case 3 – Push Notifications
The previous two Use Cases saw how a user actively utilised SingTel Life as a means to search for restaurants or merchants. For this Use Case, we aim to bring forth the passive usage of SingTel
Life. We also want and to highlight the interaction of SingTel’s payment tab vis-à-vis its other components.
The user updates his/her profile and enables push notifications from SingTel Life. When he/she is patronising a shopping mall, nearby merchant shops can send promotion offers to our user based on his/her interests indicated in their profile. The user patronises the shop and then decides to purchase items using the promotions he/she received. The user pays using SingTel Life’s payment
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tab, which will also reward the user with RedPoints (Figure 7.3).
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Figure 7.3 — Use Case 3
Six moments of truth are identified in which user-app interaction accounts for half, consistent with the previous two Use Cases. However, in Use Case 3, the user can be seen receiving a
SingTel Life notification in Pop-up Notification. This differs from the previous two Use Cases where the user actively makes use of SingTel Life to search for a merchant or restaurant. This passive usage of SingTel Life is a markedly different aspect that is an aim brought forth with Use
Case 3.
Two failure points are found in Use Case 3. First, the lack of precise positioning would cripple
SingTel Life’s push notification service. If the app is unable to pinpoint the user’s presence, it cannot push out relevant promotions to the user, thus impeding the service process. Second, such push notifications, if irrelevant to the user, can irk and annoy the user. This can be considered a failure point as poor handling of this service could alienate SingTel Life from its user base.
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Two pain points can be recognised in Use Case 3. The first emerges at Processing Order where shopkeepers may not cope with large crowds, similar to that seen in previous Use Case 1. The second pain point emerges at Payment using the payment tab. If either the merchant or user does not have the technological capabilities to effect the transaction, the user will have to rely on conventional payment methods. Hence, these two points represent a potential disruption to the service process.
Similarly, technology can be used to reconcile the failure and pain points in this Use Case. The use of beacons can mitigate the problem of indoor positioning, thereby eliminating the first failure point identified. To alleviate the second failure point, the databases can be combined to create a robust intelligence system in order to better predict user’s behaviour and interests. Promotions can also be offered based on their past purchases or redemptions, as well as their reviews and participation in the other tabs of SingTel Life, to better understand their needs.
Use Case 3 further explains the revenue generation opportunities of monetising commission charges in all SingTel Life related transactions. SingTel can charge a small transaction fee for all mWallet payments similar to credit card transaction charges. By narrowing their profit margins on mWallet payment transactions, merchants can pass on these savings onto their customers, thereby increasing volume and take up rate.
7.4
Analysis
Central to SingTel Life’s success is the integration of fragmented but complementary apps as well as the beacon technology. From the three Use Cases, we saw aspects of HungryGoWhere,
SGMall, RedPoints, and mWallet culminating into SingTel Life to better serve our users. The synergy generated from these apps is crucial to SingTel Life realising as a true lifestyle companion. In addition, the adoption of beacon technology, while not indispensable, allows
SingTel Life to accomplish higher level requests intuitively, delivering a smoother service experience for our users.
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In this section, the technology required to implement SingTel Life will be discussed. As SingTel
Life is built upon existing technology with an extensive user base, careful options must be made to not disrupt current services or risk alienating the current users. Hence, the three-tier architecture can be adopted to achieve this tight-knit integration while not abandoning the current services.
As seen in Figure 8, the databases will be fragmented in order to continue serving its existing user base. However, SingTel Life would be able to perform business logic while referencing all the databases, thereby achieving the synergy that is envisioned for SingTel Life. The Data Tier shows the varied databases involved in SingTel Life. The Logic Tier shows the unit responsible for the implementing the business logic of the apps. The Presentation Tier shows the user interface responsible for user-app interaction. This is captured by SingTel Life’s multi-panel UI that has different tabs representing different functions of the service.
There is also a possibility of duplicated data in the databases as a user may hold multiple accounts across the databases. This would inevitably result in inefficiencies and errors while referencing the databases using different keys. Hence, one solution will be to standardise SingTel’s accounts using
ONEPASS ID, an all-in-one user identification that will act as the link between all records in the
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databases.
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Figure 8 — Three-tier Architecture
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9.1
High-level Business Description
In this section, we will cover the service architecture and discuss the high level business description and the various business, integration, composite and application patterns for the business functions.
Actors
The actors involved in this Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) Design are the customers, mobile, SingTel Life, SingTel, merchants, merchants and restaurant database. Merchants refer to the enterprises that are involved when purchases are made. Merchant database refers to the merchants that are involved in the redemption of the RedPoints while restaurants that allows customers to redeem RedPoints make up the restaurant database.
High-level Interactions / Business Functions
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Five main business functions are identified. The first business function is to Check RedPoints, which allows customers to check their RedPoints balance and expiry dates. The second business function is Redeem RedPoints, which allow customers use their RedPoints to make a gift/voucher redemption. The third business function is to Search Restaurants/Merchants, so that customers can see where they can redeem their RedPoints or where their coupons are accepted. The fourth business function is to Make Purchases, such as song purchase on AMPed. The final business function is that of Customer Notification, so that customers can receive pop-up notification when expiry date of RedPoints is nearing or other relevant promotions.
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9.2
Solutions Overview Diagram (SOD)
In this section, the Solutions Overview Diagram is used to illustrate the interaction between actors involved in SingTel Life’s service proposal. From the SOD below, it can be seen that a user is able to access the SingTel Life app using his/her mobile device to accomplish the various business functions highlighted earlier. Merchants, SingTel, and respective databases then support this enterprise by supplementing the different functions within SingTel Life.
The SOA also displays the information flow of the varied business functions. Check RedPoints,
Make Purchases, Redeem RedPoints, and Search Restaurants/Merchants all involve a query from the user followed by a result from the System. Hence, these business functions are bidirectional in information flow.
Customer Notification, on the other hand, involves an asynchronous message sent from SingTel alerting the user about key information. Hence, information flow is unidirectional.
Beacon
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Figure 9 — SOA Diagram
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i
Refer to Appendix E for diagrams of the Business Patterns, Integration Patterns, Composite Patterns and Application Patterns.
9.3
Business Patterns
This section identifies the Business Patterns of the five Business Functions that were covered in the earlier section.
Self Service
Business Patterns
Collaboration
Business Functions
• Check RedPoints
• Redeem RedPoints
• Make Purchases
• Search Restaurants/Merchants
• Customer Notification
The business functions - Check RedPoints, Redeem RedPoints, Make Purchases, and Search
Restaurants/Merchants are all self-service business patterns because the customer interacts directly with the businesses.
The Customer Notification is considered a collaboration business pattern because it is a user-user pattern where data and information is shared.
9.4
Integration Patterns
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It is crucial to tie the five distinct functions together to provide a consistent user experience for the user, hence the integration pattern is access integration.
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9.5
Composite Patterns
Composite Patterns
Account Access
E-Commerce
Portal
Description
• Check RedPoints
• Redeem RedPoints
• Make Purchases
• Customer Notification
The composite pattern, account access can be used for customers to Check RedPoints account balance and Redeem RedPoints , since it provides customers with around-the-clock account access to their account information. Make Purchases is an e-commerce composite pattern, as it enables User-to-Online-Buying. A portal composite pattern is used for Customer Notification which combines multiple information like customer’s individual RedPoints balance and upcoming promotions and provides personalised access to its customers.
9.6
Application Patterns
Composite Patterns
Self Service::Stand Alone Single Channel
Collaboration::Managed Collaboration
Access Integration::Single Sign-On
Description
• Integration with other systems not required
• Focus only on one delivery channel
• Notification sent to multiple clients triggered by dynamic events
• Need for single sign on across multiple applications
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Self-Service Application Patterns
The self-service application patterns for Check RedPoints, Redeem RedPoints, Make Purchases and Searching Restaurants/Merchants are all stand-alone single channels, since integration with other systems is not required and the focus is only on one delivery channel. The key business driver is time-to-market and the key IT driver is to minimise application complexity. This allows
SingTel to easily provide self-service capabilities through the app. In addition, these self-service business functions do not require back end integration.
Collaboration Application Pattern
The collaboration application pattern for Customer Notification is managed collaboration, since the business sends notification to multiple clients triggered by dynamic events, like upcoming promotions. Managed collaboration is used as all users may not be online at the same time and users also share data like their preferred interests so SingTel can inform them about related upcoming promotions. For example, if a customer states his/her interest is in sports, the service provider would notify them if there were any upcoming promotions related to sports. Hence, customers can log in and share such information online and in a synchronous manner.
Access Integration Application Pattern
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For access integration, the application pattern would be single sign-on as the primary business driver is a need for single sign-on across multiple applications, so that customers need to only login once while accessing the app, while not compromising on the security for the customers and enterprises. The main IT driver for single sign-on is to provide simple access and profile management for customers, yet increasing efficiency.
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Summarised Application Pattern
The figure below shows the summarised application pattern for the service (Figure 10).
In conclusion, the SOA diagram covers the five crucial functions - to check red points, to redeem red points, to search merchants, to make purchases and customer notification and there are various actors such as the customers, SingTel Life, SingTel and merchants who are involved in this process. The business functions - check red points, redeem red points, make purchases, search merchants are self-service business patterns while customer notification is a collaboration business pattern. The integration pattern identified for the business patterns would be access integration.
The composite patterns are account access, e-commerce and portal composite patterns. The various application patterns can be summarised as Self Service::Stand Alone Single Channel,
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Collaboration::Managed Collaboration and Access Integration::Single Sign-On.
Collaboration::Managed Collaboration
Self Service::Stand Alone Single Channel
Self Service::Stand Alone Single Channel
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Self Service::Stand Alone Single Channel
Self Service::Stand Alone Single Channel
Figure
10 -
Access Integration::Single
Sign-On
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SingTel Life is more than a mobile application. SingTel Life is a connection between user and app; an ecosystem that brings customers and merchants closer together. Ultimately, SingTel Life is an extension of SingTel’s mission: “Breaking Barriers, Building Bonds.”
We believe that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. By uniting distinct but complementary pieces together, we are able to harness the synergy to create a service that is intuitive, relevant, and useful for our customers. By combining the functionality of various lifestyle apps, SingTel Life helps users make more informed decisions and simplify daily tasks. By offering a common platform to communicate and share, SingTel Life helps Break Barriers and
Build Bonds.
SingTel Life is the service innovation that can propel SingTel above its competitions. By offering a tight-knit and well integrated system for its customer base, SingTel can offer a distinctive point of differentiation from its two main rivals.
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To conclude, SingTel Life is our answer to SingTel’s call to find innovative means of exploiting its current technology in order to continue thriving in the telecoms industry.
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Apple Inc., A. (4 December, 2013). iOS: Understanding iBeacon . Retrieved from Apple: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT6048
Business Monitor International (2012), Singapore Telecommunications Report
ChannelNewsAsia (2014), Telcos not charging existing customers with contracts for 4G services, on April 24, 2014: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/ telcos-not-charging/1080852.html?cid=FBSG
IDA. (14 April, 2014). What We Do . Retrieved from Infocomm Development Authority of
Singapore: http://www.ida.gov.sg/About-Us/What-We-Do
Investopedia. (n.d.). The Industry Handbook: The Telecommunications Industry . Retrieved
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15 3, 2014, from Investopedia: http://www.investopedia.com/features/ industryhandbook/telecom.asp
Janssen, C. (n.d.). Business Driver . Retrieved from Techopedia: http:// www.techopedia.com/definition/28013/business-driver
SingTel. (2014). Singapore Business.
Retrieved from SingTel Annual Report for the year ended 31 March 2013: http://info.singtel.com/annualreport/2013/operating-andfinancial-review/singapore-business.html
Statistics on Telecomm Services for 2013 (Jan - Jun) . (2013). Retrieved 15 03, 2014, from http://www.ida.gov.sg/Infocomm-Landscape/Facts-and-Figures/
Telecommunications/Statistics-on-Telecom-Services/Statistics-on-Telecom-
Services-for-2013-Jan-Jun
Walters, R. (14 December, 2011). Keep your sanity at the mall with an internal positioning system (IPS) . Retrieved from ExtremeTech: http://www.extremetech.com/ computing/109033-keep-your-sanity-at-the-mall-with-an-internal-positioningsystem-ips
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Mobile Phone Penetration Rate
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3G Mobile Subscriptions
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Singtel mWallet
SingTel mWallet enables users to make tap-andgo payment through the mobile app. It stores credit cards, EZ-link card and mobile money in the
SingTel mobile phone.
AMPed
AMPed is a music downloader with access to millions of music, aiming to give SingTel customers a better music experience.
HungryGoWhere
HungryGoWhere helps
SingTel customers to find the most popular food and beverage outlet and must-try dishes in
Singapore
My SingTel
My SingTel is developed to make viewing SingTel bills, checking and managing SingTel service usage more convenient for SingTel customers.
SGMall
SGMall, the shopping oriented mobile app, provides users with the latest promotion, sales and other bargains.
deF!ND
Powered by inSing, deF!
ND helps users find the latest shopping deals, restaurant promotions, or movie showings.
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There are a few technological developments that SingTel can look into for developing a suitable service innovation. The two significant technologies that are slowly making their way into markets are the Indoor Positioning System and Beacon Technology.
Indoor Positioning System
Indoor Positioning System (IPS) is a network of devices used to wirelessly locate objects or people inside a building (Indoor Positioning System, 2014). Traditional Global Positioning System
(GPS) can only measure altitude and the data may be inaccurate and of low-resolution for more precise daily usage. The IPS is able to locate objects or people in the building, providing a more detailed and specific data that may prove itself useful to many users.
Beacon Technology
The newly introduced Beacon technology is one of the ways to implement IPS. It is a small, wireless device that works on Bluetooth Low Energy (Figure 4). A Beacon’s active radius ranges from centimetres to more than 10 meters away. It activates within range and sends messages and pushes notifications to devices within the effective radius. A mobile device or hardware can also serve as a Beacon to send push notifications to other mobile devices in close proximity (iBeacon,
2014). The advantages of a Beacon over its competition such as WIFI and the traditional Near
Field Communication is the active range and low pricing. The Beacon technology will also eliminate the issue of blocked cell signals in indoor terrains which is a problem that has constantly plagued GPS technology. The Beacon technology is an elegant, feasible, and sustainable solution
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to achieve Indoor Positioning.
Example of a Beacon
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Login Page Sample Profile Page Food Tab (Main Page)
Shopping Tab (Main Page)
IS3220 Project Report: SingTel Life
Payment Tab (Main Page) Music Tab (Main Page)
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Rewards Redemption
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Redeemed Reward Indoor Navigation
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Collaboration
Self Service
Self Service
Self Service
Self Service
Business Patterns
Access Integration
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Integration Patterns
44

Portal
Account
Access
Account
Access
E-commerce
Composite Patterns
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Self Service Application Patterns
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Collaboration Application Patterns
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