DPRO-90782
Jayashri Dasgupta
Operational Management Report
15 December 2003
Mobile and Wireless Services and Service Providers in Singapore
Summary
With growth slowing down and the subscriber base reaching a plateau, the focus has now shifted to
customer retention through better service offerings and competitive pricing.
Table of Contents
Market and Regulatory Overview
Vendor Profiles
Service Profiles
Strengths and Limitations
Insight
List Of Tables
Table 1: Singapore 3G Licensing Details
Table 2: Bandwidth Allocation to Cellular Operators
Table 3: Singapore Cellular Market Share (Sept 2003)
Table 4: GPRS Packages
Table 5: SingTel’s Cellular Expansion in Asia/Pacific
Table 6: SingTel Mobile
Table 7: MobileOne (M1)
Table 8: StarHub Mobile
Table 9: Voice Services
Table 10: Data Services
Table 11: Messaging Services
Gartner
© 2003 Gartner, Inc. and/or its Affiliates. All Rights Reserved.Reproduction of this publication in any form without prior written permission is forbidden. The information contained herein has been obtained from sources believed to be
reliable. Gartner disclaims all warranties as to the accuracy, completeness or adequacy of such information. Gartner shall have no liability for errors, omissions or inadequacies in the information contained herein or for interpretations
thereof. The reader assumes sole responsibility for the selection of these materials to achieve its intended results. The opinions expressed herein are subject to change without notice.
Mobile and Wireless Services and Service Providers in Singapore
Market and Regulatory Overview
Singapore’s cellular industry is regulated by the Telecommunications Act, which provides a legal
framework for the provision and operation of telecommunications systems and services. The Infocomm
Development Authority (IDA)—incorporated in December 1999 under the IDA Act—is the regulatory
authority for the telecommunications industry.
Under the Telecommunications Act, all telecommunications systems and services in Singapore must be
licensed. IDA is empowered to grant licenses, regulate and monitor licensees, and set standards and
codes of practice. The Singaporean government opened the telecommunications market to full
competition in April 2000, two years ahead of its original schedule. Direct and indirect foreign restrictions
on public telecommunications licenses were lifted. However, foreign companies need to incorporate local
subsidiaries, as only locally incorporated companies are allowed to hold licenses.
The current licensing framework allows for two categories of licenses:
•
Facilities-based operator (FBO) license—this is for operators who deploy telecommunications
networks/facilities to offer telecommunications services to other operators, businesses or consumers.
Cellular operators fall under this category.
•
Services-based operator (SBO) license—this is for operators who lease telecommunications network
elements from FBO licensees to provide telecommunications services to third parties or resell the
services of FBO operators.
In April 2001, third-generation (3G) licenses were awarded to the three established cellular operators—
SingTel Mobile, MobileOne (M1) and StarHub Mobile—at the reserve price of S$100 million each, a small
amount compared to what was paid in the U.K. and Germany. Due to its small market size, Singapore
was less attractive to potential 3G service providers, and this resulted in only three contenders for the four
3G licenses on offer. This effectively precluded the need for any competitive bidding. IDA had earlier
embarked on a promotional roadshow and reduced the original 3G-reserve price of S$150 million to
S$100 million, but it failed to attract additional bidders.
Table 1: Singapore 3G Licensing Details
Frequency Range
• 1899.9-1920MHz for unpaired spectrum
• 1920-1979.7MHz, paired with 2110.3-2169.7MHz divided into four blocks—one
block consisting of 2 × 15MHz of paired spectrum plus 5MHz of unpaired spectrum,
and three blocks consisting of 2 × 14.8MHz of paired spectrum plus 5MHz of
unpaired spectrum each.
Area
Nationwide.
Style of Auction
Pre-qualification of all applicants to be followed by simultaneous multiround auction.
Competition
Restriction on associated bidders. No bidder will be granted more than one 3G
Restrictions
spectrum rights.
Reserve Price
S$100 million per 3G spectrum rights (originally set at S$150 million).
Period of License
License valid until 31 December 2021 (20 years’ validity). Nationwide network
rollout is mandated by 31 December 2004.
© 2003 Gartner, Inc. and/or its Affiliates. All Rights Reserved.
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Table 1: Singapore 3G Licensing Details
Nature of License
Spectrum license:
• Technology neutral—subject to compliance with the technical framework, license
is not limited to any particular 3G technology.
• Subject to certain limitations and IDA approval, spectrum can be traded. If
required, IDA would issue a 3G license to the buyer of the resold 3G spectrum.
• License allows for wholesale agreements or “sub-letting.”
Source: IDA.
All three cellular operators operate on the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) standard.
Singapore’s only CDMAOne network (launched on 1 June 1998 by M1) was shut down in September
2001 to free up frequency spectrum earmarked for 3G services. As compensation, M1 was granted
additional frequency spectrum for GSM1800.
Table 2: Bandwidth Allocation to Cellular Operators
Operator
Cellular Network
Bandwidth Allocation
(MHz)
SingTel Mobile
GSM900
2 × 14.1
GSM1800
2 × 20.5
3G
2 × 15 (paired) + 5
(unpaired)
M1
GSM900
2 × 10.8
GSM1800
2 × 20
3G
2 × 14.8 (paired) + 5
(unpaired)
StarHub Mobile
GSM1800
2 × 20.2
3G
2 × 14.8 (paired) + 5
(unpaired)
Source: Gartner.
The incumbent, SingTel Mobile, still retains a 44.62 percent market share for cellular connections.
However, its market share has been declining steadily (SingTel Mobile had a 57.5 percent market share
in December 2000) due to intense competition from M1 and StarHub Mobile.
Table 3: Singapore Cellular Market Share (Sept 2003)
Operator
SingTel Mobile
Cellular
Total Number of Connections
Networks
(thousands)
GSM900
Percent Market Share
1,359
39.95
GSM1800
159
4.67
M1
GSM900/1800
1,066
31.33
StarHub
GSM1800
818
24.04
3,402
100.00
Mobile
Total
Source: Gartner.
Based on IDA’s Quality of Service (QOS) monitoring for the second quarter of 2003, there is very little
separating the three cellular operators in terms of call success rate, call drop-out rate, voice quality and
street-level cellular coverage.
© 2003 Gartner, Inc. and/or its Affiliates. All Rights Reserved.
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Mobile and Wireless Services and Service Providers in Singapore
True mobile number portability (MNP) is still unavailable in Singapore, but there is currently no regulatory
requirement to implement it despite evidence of consumer interest. Till 30 September 2003, cellular
subscribers could port over their established cellular numbers to a new service provider (implemented via
call forwarding) by paying a S$10 monthly fee. However, the user could not receive Short Message
Service (SMS) messages. Effective 1 August 2003, the monthly fee for call forwarding has been
scrapped, and the user can also receive forwarded SMS from 1 October 2003. However, as of now there
is no major impact on churn rate due to this. The calling-party-pays (CPP) regime is currently not
supported in Singapore.
With cellular penetration now at 80.9 percent (as of September 2003), the market has shown signs of
slowing down. With limited growth potential and declining average revenue per user (ARPU), market
conditions are very tough. In July 2002, Virgin Mobile—a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) formed
by Virgin Group and SingTel—announced its decision to shutdown its operations, citing the saturated
market as a key reason. Virgin Mobile was launched on 12 October 2001, but as of mid-2002 it had only
managed to capture about 30,000 connections. Misreading of the market and service packages perceived
to be expensive by consumers led to the company’s dismal showing. Virgin Mobile did not provide
handset subsidies and failed to offer free SMS. SingTel Mobile and M1 have been touting free SMS to
attract users, as SMS is especially popular with young adults, and such offers are perceived favorably.
Service Portfolio Expansion
In a mature cellular market where cellular connection growth is starting to plateau, cellular operators are
now competing on service offerings and price. There has also been increased focus on customer service
and customer retention. Handset upgrade/trade-in programs are common practices here, as are handset
subsidies in exchange for two-year postpaid contracts. Cellular operators are also offering usage reward
points to gain customer loyalty. Collector prepaid top-up cards and ring-tones/logos (both tied to movie
promotions) have also been a battleground for operators, as they tussle over the youth segment. In all
these, cellular subscribers have been the beneficiaries.
StarHub and SingTel Mobile are offering free incoming calls to their subscribers under their SunTalk 700
and iTwo plans. The two are also offering inexpensive international direct dialing (IDD) calls on Voice over
Internet Protocol (VoIP) to their mobile customers. SingTel announced on 1 August 2003 that it would be
providing discounts up to 69 percent to eight destinations on its VoIP service. StarHub has announced
that its customers could call the U.S., China, Malaysia and Hong Kong for free for the month of August
2003 and for a monthly fee of S$5.20 in subsequent months. The discounted IDD rates of SingTel and
StarHub apply to both their mobile and fixed line customers. SingTel Mobile is also collaborating with NTT
DoCoMo in the field of 3G mobile multimedia services based on wideband code division multiple access
(WCDMA) technology. The two aim to establish interconnection and roaming between NTT DoCoMo’s
established 3G network and the 3G network to be built by SingTel Mobile, as well as develop common 3G
mobile multimedia services.
SingTel and StarHub have also started to provide e-mail services on mobile phones. StarHub is providing
Java-based BlackBerry wireless data and voice platform to corporate customers in Singapore, allowing
the corporate users to manage their important communications and Personal Information Management
(PIM) tools through the use of a BlackBerry Wireless Handheld (called BlackBerry 6720TM) with
integrated e-mail, phone, SMS, Web browser and organiser applications. The BlackBerry handheld
operates on StarHub’s GSM/GPRS network.
SingTel Mobile has sourced a mobile e-mail platform from Seven to launch a product called MobileMail. It
provides access to e-mail and documents on virtually any mobile device, automatically optimizing content
for display according to the limitations of the handset. This service does not require a proprietary wireless
© 2003 Gartner, Inc. and/or its Affiliates. All Rights Reserved.
DPRO-90782
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Mobile and Wireless Services and Service Providers in Singapore
handheld device. MobileMail also allows users to retrieve and attach files stored on their desktops while
on the move—a sort of remote control of the desktop PC. However, both these services, from SingTel and
StarHub respectively, have only managed to find very limited usage, by and large among the employees
of American multinational corporations.
All cellular operators in Singapore have launched GPRS services, targeted specifically at light, moderate
and heavy data users. The operators have also launched multimedia messaging service (MMS). MMS
interoperability was implemented in end-November 2002. However, the user base of MMS is still
insignificant, and the service has shown a fairly slow uptake. StarHub has bundled SMS and MMS
together as part of the data services. M1 had done so initially, but since 1 July 2003 it has billed the two
services separately.
In October 2002, Singapore was chosen to be the first GPRS roaming exchange neutral peering point in
Asia, and the second of such exchange points in the world. Supported by the GSM Association, this
positioned Singapore as a key exchange point for the anticipated high growth in GPRS roaming services
and traffic in the region. Mobile operators can benefit through faster time to market for their GPRS
roaming services, and consumers are able to enjoy seamless access to mobile GPRS roaming both at
home and abroad, with better data transmission quality and lower costs.
Table 4: GPRS Packages
Operator
SingTel Mobile
Package
Registration Fee
Monthly Fees
Bundled Value
Excess Charges
GPRS
Free
—
—
0.52cents/KB
Data Lite
S$10.40
S$10.40
S$15 worth of
0.52cents/KB
local data
usage
Data
Free
S$26
S$45 worth of
0.34cents/KB
local data
usage
Data Plan
S$10.40 (plus
S$26
S$45 worth of
Data SIM card
(Supplementary
local data
worth S$31.20)
Data plan for
usage
0.34cents/KB
S$5.20)
M1
StarHub
SunSurf Mobile
Free (until 31
10
Dec 2003)
SunSurf Mobile
Free (until 31
50
Dec 2003)
S$10.40
S$52
5MB per month
0.52cents/KB
20MB per
0.31cents/KB
month
Gee!Lite
Free
—
—
0.52cents/KB
Gee!Value
Free
S$10.40
S$20 worth of
0.52cents/KB
Gee!Unlimited
S$10.40
S$104
Unlimited usage
—
Gee!DataPack
S$10.40
S$10.40
S$20 worth of
0.52cents/KB
free bytes
free bytes
Gee!Unlimited
S$10.40
S$104
Unlimited usage
—
Data Pack
Source: Gartner.
Geographical Expansion
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Mobile and Wireless Services and Service Providers in Singapore
SingTel has moved outside the domestic market to sustain revenue growth. To date, it has made
investments in five countries in Asia/Pacific. With these investments, there are potential synergies and
cost savings from activities such as equipment procurement, product development and benchmarking for
best practices.
Table 5: SingTel’s Cellular Expansion in Asia/Pacific
Company
Advanced Info
Country
Initial Investment Date
Equity Stake ()
Thailand
January 1999
21.5
India
August 2000
28.5
Globe
The
March 1993
41.28
Telecom
Philippines
Optus
Australia
September 2001
100.0
Telkomsel
Indonesia
November 2001
35.0
Services
Bharti
Televentures
Source: SingTel.
M1, the only pure-play mobile operator in Singapore, has also partnered with international operator
Vodafone in an attempt to provide its subscribers global roaming facilities. M1 and Vodafone have
entered into an exclusive partnership under which both companies will cooperate in developing and
offering products and services to their respective subscriber base. While M1 will offer Vodafone and its
partners’ subscribers seamless access to Vodafone’s international roaming facility in Singapore, M1
subscribers will enjoy the benefit of Vodafone’s roaming services across the globe.
2003 also saw a few Asian mobile operators teaming up together in order to gain economies of scale and
strengthen their positions in their respective markets. Called the Asia Mobility Initiative (AMI), it is a
nonexclusive alliance between Hong Kong CSL, Maxis (Malaysia), M1 (Singapore), Smart (Philippines)
and Telstra (Australia). This will help in gaining competitive advantage in areas like roaming, procurement
and new application development. AMI is particularly aimed at competing strongly against the SingTel
group, which has a strong presence in the region. However, considering the heterogeneity of the region in
terms of technologies deployed, cultures and business models, it remains to be seen if the AMI can really
achieve its objective.
There is also a possibility of merger and acquisitions happening within the Singapore wireless industry.
The original shareholders of M1 are keen to exit the cellular business, which is noncore to their main
business. M1 has shown interest in being merged with StarHub, although it has admitted that it is not in
active talks with StarHub regarding the same. It is to be noted that both StarHub and M1 have purchased
3G equipment from Nokia. Should the merger happen, it is likely to impact the competitive landscape of
the wireless market. That apart, there has also been foreign interest in M1 lately.
Wireless LAN Activities
Although the Singaporean market is highly sophisticated and technology savvy, wireless Internet is still
very much in its infancy. However, cellular operators are actively involved in this area. SingTel is now
offering free monthly subscriptions for its public wireless local area network (WLAN) to its SingTel Mobile
postpaid subscribers. Currently, it has over 100 wireless surf zones nationwide (“Outdoor Wireless Surf”
service). StarHub has also been rolling out WLAN hotspots and has also introduced General Packet
Radio Service (GPRS) wireless data cards for laptops.
© 2003 Gartner, Inc. and/or its Affiliates. All Rights Reserved.
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Mobile and Wireless Services and Service Providers in Singapore
IDA had developed and launched Singapore ONE, a nationwide broadband network, in 1996. It now plans
to extend the broadband capabilities of Singapore ONE to the wireless realm, thus providing users with
the combined benefits of high-speed connectivity and mobility. By 2006, IDA targets to achieve pervasive
wireless connectivity, with 50 percent of households on broadband, and consumers enjoying a wide range
of 3G services.
2002/03 also saw the proliferation of “hot spots,” or broadband access stations, where users can plug in
their notebooks and other Net-ready devices to download or upload information. The growth of “hot spots”
is further fueled by the reduction in the cost of the WLAN technology and notebook computers. The
convenience of getting access to media-rich content while on the move has prompted many industry
players—particularly those in insurance, education and healthcare—to jump on the broadband
bandwagon. In September 2002, Wireless Internet Service Providers (WISPs) collaborated to create a
showcase demonstrating their solutions. With a single identity and password, subscribers were able to
use hotspots operated by all participating WISPs and receive a consolidated bill from their own ISP.
Over the last year, both SingTel and StarHub have introduced their own wireless broadband service.
SingTel has launched both home and outdoor broadband service, called “Home Wireless Surf” and
“Outdoor Wireless Surf” respectively. StarHub has introduced a wireless broadband service called
“Wireless Broadband Hub,” covering major public venues.
IDA-Led Initiatives
IDA had launched a S$200 million program in October 2000 called “Wired With Wireless.” Under this
program, IDA collaborates with the industry to identify, develop and launch the development of wireless
applications and services for retail, entertainment, transportation, healthcare, finance, manufacturing,
trading and home. Calls for collaborations were issued to industry players to propose and trial applications
that meet the needs of different user segments. To date, 30 projects have been successfully piloted,
including those in mobile payments, wireless Java and mobile workforce.
IDA has identified five specific clusters in the infocomm sector that offer high growth potential for
Singapore in the next one to three years, of which the two areas with more immediate market
opportunities are creating new services and applications on the wireless and wired networks. They are
“value-added mobile services” and “Infrastructure for Wireless and Wired services.” “Value-added mobile
services” centers on technologies that support or allow ubiquitous connectivity to applications, devices or
systems, and “Infrastructure for Wireless and Wired services” focuses on hardware and software
technologies required to support the flow and processing of information.
IDA has also been working closely with cellular and IT participants to promote wireless applications, such
as m-commerce, mobile payment and wireless security. Cellular operators have also set up applicationsdeveloper communities and test beds to try out potential new applications for 2.5G and 3G cellular
networks. Under IDA’s “Wired with Wireless” initiative, Networks for Electronic Transfers (NETS)—
together with Nokia and Visa—launched its “eNETS Mobile Wallet Service” on 9 December 2002. The
service, based on Nokia’s e-wallet solution, allows users to purchase movie tickets. Some of the ongoing
trial e-wallet solutions are:
•
BLINK—a direct debit payment system supported by Citibank, ABN Amro, Maybank, Mastercard and
StarHub. There are currently six participating establishments on the system.
•
Telemoney—this payment system, supported by Systems@work, permits payment for shopping
(TelePay), taxi rides (TeleCab) and parking fees (TeleParking) via cellular handsets.
© 2003 Gartner, Inc. and/or its Affiliates. All Rights Reserved.
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Mobile and Wireless Services and Service Providers in Singapore
•
YW8 (“Why Wait”)—this system allows users to use SMS or Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) in
conjunction with eNETS Vcard (a NETS prepaid virtual card) or Visa credit card to make payments.
However, it is still early, and a lot of effort is required to develop these areas. Currently, the fragmented
solutions market, lack of standard infrastructure and the limited number of participating establishments
are issues to be addressed.
Vendor Profiles
Table 6: SingTel Mobile
Ownership
Wholly owned subsidiary of Singapore Telecom. The major shareholder of
Singapore Telecom (SingTel) is Temasek Holdings (a state investment vehicle), in
which the Singapore government has a 67.51 percent stake.
Date Wireless
1988.
Services Launched
Cellular Revenue
S$825 million (FY02/03 ending 31 March 2003).
Average Revenue
S$72 per month (postpaid), S$16 per month (prepaid), S$57 per month (blended).
per Subscriber
Network Infrastructure
System Deployed
GSM900 and GSM1800.
National Coverage
Street-level service coverage, defined by IDA as the ability of a network in achieving
a minimum signal strength of -100dBm:
GSM900—100 percent and GSM1800—99.91 percent.
Number of Base
Over 1,900.
Stations
Network
WAP (January 2000), High-Speed Circuit Switched Data (HSCSD) that allows 38.4
Enhancements
Kbps wireless data transfer and GPRS (November 2000) that allows up to 46 Kbps
data transfer rate.
Roaming
National
Not required.
International
Postpaid roaming to 140 destinations worldwide with 370 roaming partners.
Prepaid roaming to over 90 destinations worldwide with 185 roaming partners.
GPRS roaming in 68 countries/territories (as of November 2003) and MMS roaming
to 68 countries (as of November 2003).
© 2003 Gartner, Inc. and/or its Affiliates. All Rights Reserved.
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Mobile and Wireless Services and Service Providers in Singapore
Table 6: SingTel Mobile
Pricing Elements
Individual Business
SingTel Mobile offers several postpaid plans, with the “Pod” product line targeted at
Tariffs
the younger segment:
• Premium1500: monthly subscription S$195.52, 1,500 minutes free local talk-time
(voice, data and fax), excess charge: 12.48c/min (peak) and 10.40c/min (off-peak),
360 free SMS, various free value-added services (VAS), free S$500 mobile phone
voucher every 12 months and 10 percent discount to all SingTel Mobile IDD calls.
• Premium700: monthly subscription S$91.52, 700 minutes free local talk-time
(voice, data and fax), excess charge: 12.48c/min (peak), 10.40c/min (off-peak), 360
free SMS, various free VAS and 10 percent discount to all SingTel Mobile IDD calls.
• Classic100: monthly subscription (S$29.12), 200 minutes free local talk-time (voice
only: 150 minutes anytime and 50 minutes off-peak) with excess charge of
20.80c/min (peak) and 10.40c/min (off-peak), 360 free SMS, various free VAS.
• Pod Zoom: monthly subscription (S$95, currently promotion of S$49.92 for first
year with loyalty discounts for subsequent years), 300 minutes free local talk-time
(voice only, anytime), excess charge: 20.80c/min (peak) and 10.40c/min (off-peak),
500 free SMS and various free VAS.
• Pod 18: monthly subscription S$26 (currently promotion of S$18.72 for first year
with loyalty discounts for subsequent years), 180 minutes free local talk-time (voice
only, off-peak), excess charge: 20.80c/min (peak) and 10.40c/min (off-peak), 500
free SMS and various free VAS.
• Pod lite: monthly subscription S$15.60 (currently promotion of S$10.30 for first
year with loyalty discounts for subsequent years), 30 minutes free local talk-time
(voice only, off-peak), excess charge: 20.80c/min (peak) and 10.40c/min (off-peak),
700 free SMS and various free VAS.
• iOne: monthly subscription S$29.12, 80 minutes free local talk-time, excess
charge: 15.60c/min (peak and off-peak), various free VAS.
• iTwo: monthly subscription S$91.52, 680 minutes free local talk-time, excess
charge: 15.60c/min (peak and off-peak), various free VAS.
• eOne: monthly subscription S$29.12, S$20.80 worth of talk-time with excess
charge of 20.80c/min for first month and 10.40c/min for subsequent months (peak)
and 5.20c/min (off-peak), 300 free SMS, various free VAS.
• eTwo: monthly subscription S$72.80, S$104 worth of free local talk-time, excess
charge: 18.72c/min for first month and 9.36c/min for subsequent months (peak) and
4.68c/min (off-peak), 300 free SMS and various free VAS.
Prepaid package (Hi!Card) is available. Top-up cards are denominated at S$15,
S$25 and S$50. The prepaid account has to be topped up every six months.
Group-Packaged
No.
Tariffs
Corporate Dialing
No.
Plans
Private-Leased
No.
Circuits
© 2003 Gartner, Inc. and/or its Affiliates. All Rights Reserved.
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Table 6: SingTel Mobile
Support
Service-Level
Not available.
Agreements
Available
Billing Options
Detailed billing, which will provide the date, time, type of calls (incoming and
outgoing), the numbers called or calling party, and the duration and charges of each
call. Subjected to a one-time registration fee of S$10.40 and a monthly subscription
fee of S$5.20.
Bills can be paid via cash, cheque, bank draft, cashier’s order, automated teller
machines and automatic debit.
Consulting
No.
Source: Gartner.
Table 7: MobileOne (M1)
Ownership
Keppel Telecommunications and Transportation (14.16 percent), Singapore Press
Holdings (14.16 percent), Great Eastern Telecommunications (12.14 percent),
general public and institutional investors (59.54 percent).
Date Wireless
1 April 1997.
Services Launched
Cellular Revenue
S$698.8 million (for year ending 31 December 2002).
Average Revenue
Average for the first eight months of 2002: S$62.5 per month (postpaid), S$17.5 per
per Subscriber
month (prepaid).
Network Infrastructure
System Deployed
GSM900/1800 (dual-band network).
National Coverage
Street-level service coverage, defined by IDA as the ability of a network in achieving
a minimum signal strength of -100dBm:
GSM900—100 percent.
Number of Base
Over 1,500.
Stations
Network
WAP and GPRS (commercial launch in October 2001).
Enhancements
Satellite
No.
Network/Alliance
Roaming
National
International
Not required.
GSM roaming to over 180 countries/territories worldwide. GPRS and MMS roaming
in 50 countries/territories (as of November 2003).
© 2003 Gartner, Inc. and/or its Affiliates. All Rights Reserved.
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Mobile and Wireless Services and Service Providers in Singapore
Table 7: MobileOne (M1)
Pricing Elements
Individual Business
M1 offers several postpaid plans. All plans come with free subscription to most of
Tariffs
M1’s VAS:
• Talk-All-U-Can Plan: monthly subscription (S$195.52), free incoming and outgoing
calls (for local outgoing calls up to 15 mins per call), excess charges: 15.6c/min
(after first 15 mins of local outgoing calls), 300 free SMS.
• Business Plan: monthly subscription S$174.72, free local talk-time worth S$260 or
up to 5,000 minutes, excess charges: 16.6c/min for first minute and 8.3c/min for
subsequent minutes (peak), 4.2c/min (off-peak), 300 free SMS.
• Ultimate Flex Plan: monthly subscription S$101.92, free local talk-time/SMS worth
S$166.40 (up to 3,200 minutes or 3,200 SMS or any combination in between),
excess charges: 18.7c/min for first minute and 9.4c/min for subsequent minutes
(peak), 4.7c/min (off-peak).
• Ultimate Plan: monthly subscription S$72.80, free local talk-time worth S$104 or
up to 2,000 minutes, excess charges: 18.7c/min for first minute and 9.4c/min for
subsequent minutes (peak), 4.7c/min (off-peak), 300 free SMS.
• Suntalk100 Plan: monthly subscription S$29.12, free incoming and 100 mins of
outgoing calls, excess charges: 15.6c/min, 150 free SMS.
• Sintalk700 Plan: monthly subscription S$91.52, free incoming and 700 minutes of
outgoing calls, excess charges: 15.6c/min, 300 free SMS.
• Prime Plan: monthly subscription S$29.12, free local talk-time worth S$20.80 or up
to 400 minutes, excess charges: 20.80c/min for first minute and 10.40c/min for
subsequent minutes (peak), 5.2c/min (off-peak), 300 free SMS.
• OK SMS Plan: monthly subscription S$26, free local talk-time worth S$5.20 or up
to 100 minutes, excess charges: 20.80c/min for first minute and 10.40c/min for
subsequent minutes (peak), 5.2c/min (off-peak), 900 free SMS.
• OK Flex Plan: monthly subscription (S$36.40), local talk time/SMS worth S$46.80
(up to 900 free SMS or 900 minutes of pure talk time or any combination in
between), excess charges: 20.80c/min for first minute and 10.40c/min for
subsequent minutes (peak), 5.20c/min (off-peak).
• SunSurf Mobile 10 Plan: monthly subscription S$10.40, free 5MB data per month,
excess charges: 0.52c/KB.
• SunSurf Mobile 50 Plan: monthly subscription S$52, free 20MB data per month,
excess charges: 0.31c/KB.
Prepaid package (M Card) is available. Top-up cards can be purchased for as low
as S$18. The prepaid account has to be topped up every six months.
Group Packaged
No.
Tariffs
Corporate Dialing
No.
Plans
Private Leased
No.
Circuits
Support
Service-Level
Not available.
Agreements
© 2003 Gartner, Inc. and/or its Affiliates. All Rights Reserved.
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Mobile and Wireless Services and Service Providers in Singapore
Table 7: MobileOne (M1)
Billing Options
Itemized billing, which will provide caller or recipients’ telephone numbers, types of
calls, duration of calls and the charges of each call. Subjected to a one-time
registration fee of S$10.40 and a monthly subscription fee of S$5.20.
Bills can be paid via cash, cheque, credit card, automated teller machines, Internet
banking and automatic debit.
Consulting
No.
Source: Gartner.
Table 8: StarHub Mobile
Ownership
Singapore Technologies Telemedia (50 percent), NTT Communications (15
percent), Media Corp. of Singapore (14 percent), British Telecom (12 percent) and
Singapore Press Holdings (9 percent).
Date Wireless
1 April 2000.
Services Launched
Cellular Revenue
S$250 million (estimated for first half of 2003).
Average Revenue
Estimated average for 2002: S$69 per month (postpaid), S$19 per month (prepaid)
per Subscriber
and S$59 per month (blended).
Network Infrastructure
System Deployed
GSM 1800.
National Coverage
Street-level service coverage (1H03), defined by IDA as the ability of a network in
achieving a minimum signal strength of -100dBm:
GSM1800—100 percent.
Number of Base
1,055 (as of December 2001).
Stations
Network
WAP and GPRS (commercial launch in December 2001).
Enhancements
Roaming
National
International
Not required.
Global roaming to over 160 countries/territories. GPRS roaming in 35
countries/territories (as of November 2003) and MMS roaming to 35
countries/territories (as of November 2003).
© 2003 Gartner, Inc. and/or its Affiliates. All Rights Reserved.
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Mobile and Wireless Services and Service Providers in Singapore
Table 8: StarHub Mobile
Pricing Elements
Individual Business
StarHub Mobile offers several postpaid plans:
Tariffs
• PowerCall: monthly subscription (S$29.12), 160 minutes free outgoing talk-time
(voice, data and fax), excess charge: 26c/second, free incoming call.
• PowerPlay II: monthly subscription (S$29.12), 80 minutes free outgoing talk-time
(voice, data and fax), excess charge: 26c/second, 300 free SMS or 50 free MMS,
free incoming call.
• PowerTalk II: monthly subscription (S$91.52), 680 minutes free outgoing talk-time
(voice, data and fax), excess charge: 26c/second, 300 free SMS or 50 free MMS,
free incoming call.
• PowerChat100: monthly subscription (S$29.12), 100 minutes free outgoing talktime (voice, data and fax), excess charge: 26c/second, 900 free SMS or 150 free
MMS, free incoming calls either from 7 a.m.-7 p.m. or 7 p.m.-7 a.m., depending on
subscriber’s choice.
• PowerChat300: monthly subscription (S$49.92), 300 minutes free outgoing talktime (voice, data and fax), excess charge: 26c/second, 900 free SMS or 150 free
MMS, free incoming calls either from 7 a.m.-7 p.m. or 7 p.m.-7 a.m., depending on
subscriber’s choice.
• MTV Code: monthly subscription (S$34.32), 100 minutes free outgoing talk-time
(voice, data and fax), excess charge: 26c/second, 1000 free SMS or 166 free MMS,
free incoming calls either from 7 a.m.-7 p.m. or 7 p.m.-7 a.m., depending on
subscriber’s choice, free GPRS usage of 1MB. Prepaid package (Green Prepaid) is
available. Top-up cards are denominated from S$10 to S$120. The prepaid account
has to be topped up every six months.
Group-Packaged
No.
Tariffs
Corporate Dialing
No.
Plans
Private-Leased
No.
Circuits
Support
Service-Level
Not available.
Agreements
Billing Options
Itemized billing (with details of outgoing calls). Subjected to a one-time registration
fee of S$10.4 and a monthly subscription fee of S$5.2.
Consulting
No.
Source: Gartner.
Service Profiles
The tables “Voice Services,” “Data Services” and “Messaging Services” offer a comparison of some of the
major services being offered by the three cellular operators in Singapore.
© 2003 Gartner, Inc. and/or its Affiliates. All Rights Reserved.
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Mobile and Wireless Services and Service Providers in Singapore
Table 9: Voice Services
SingTel Mobile
Yes/No/Planne
MobileOne
StarHub Mobile
Yes.
Yes.
Yes.
Yes.
Yes.
Yes.
d
Caller Identity
Call Waiting
Yes.
Yes.
Yes.
Call Hold
Yes.
Yes.
Yes.
Call Baring
Yes.
Yes.
Yes.
(incoming/outg
oing)
Call Transfer
Yes.
Yes.
Yes.
Conference
Yes (up to six
Yes.
Yes (up to six parties).
Calling
parties).
Virtual Private
Yes.
No.
No.
Additional
International
Allows fun greetings, such as that
International direct dial,
Services
direct dial,
of a pre-recorded song greeting
international operator assistance
Local Direct
to be sent to another mobile
service (1635 Operator Assist).
Dial (local call
phone user, international direct
rates for calls
dial, City Guide (operator
to overseas
assisted information service).
Network
recipients who
are logged
onto SingTel
Mobile’s
cellular
network),
DuoLine
(unanswered
cellular calls
directed to
home/office
phone or
mailbox),
MobileShield
(insurance for
handsets).
Enhanced
Enhanced full
Codecs
rate (EFR).
EFR.
EFR.
Source: Gartner.
Table 10: Data Services
SingTel Mobile
Yes/No/Planne
Yes.
MobileOne
Yes.
StarHub Mobile
Yes.
d
© 2003 Gartner, Inc. and/or its Affiliates. All Rights Reserved.
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Mobile and Wireless Services and Service Providers in Singapore
Table 10: Data Services
SingTel Mobile
Speeds
MobileOne
StarHub Mobile
WAP: 14.4
WAP: 14.4 Kbps, GPRS: 36
WAP: 14.4 Kbps, GPRS: 40
Kbps, HSCSD:
Kbps.
Kbps.
National and
National and international through
National and international through
international
roaming.
roaming.
Yes (Gee!).
38.4 Kbps,
GPRS: up to
46 Kbps.
Coverage
through
roaming.
Internet
Yes (e-ideas).
Yes (MobileNet, MiWorld).
Internet e-mail
Internet e-mail notification
alert, Internet
service, send Internet e-mail.
Personal
Secretary and
Internet
Paging.
Other
Mobile
Games (Fun Games), ringtones
Concert/event schedules and
banking
and logo downloads (Fun Tunes,
ticketing, mobile trading for
(balance
Fun Icons, Fun Pix), M1
stocks, personal information
inquiry and
BizOrganiser (set of personal
management service via
transactions),
information management
WAP/GPRS and SMS alert, Java
e-trading
applications that gives users
game downloads, ringtones and
(trading
wireless access to corporate
logo downloads (Gee! Fun
transactions
servers), Stock Trigger (stock
Downloads).
via cellular
alert).
handset),
SmartStocks
(stock
information
enquiry),
StockAlert,
*SEND
location-based
services to
locate nearby
supermarkets
and cinemas,
ringtones and
logo
downloads.
© 2003 Gartner, Inc. and/or its Affiliates. All Rights Reserved.
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Mobile and Wireless Services and Service Providers in Singapore
Table 10: Data Services
SingTel Mobile
MobileOne
StarHub Mobile
Data Transfer Access Methods Supported
Public
Yes.
Yes.
Yes.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
Switched
Telephone
Network
(PSTN)
Integrated
Services
Digital
Network
(ISDN)
Fixed-Leased
Circuit
Public
Switched
Packet Data
Network
(PSPDN)
Using X.25
Source: Gartner.
Table 11: Messaging Services
SingTel Mobile
Yes/No/Planne
MobileOne
StarHub Mobile
Yes.
Yes.
Yes.
Yes.
Yes.
Yes (Power Mail).
Yes. Chinese
Yes. SMS chat, group SMS, SMS
Yes. Chinese SMS, Group SMS
SMS, Internet
with an online friend (Yahoo!
and Yahoo! Messenger (instant
SMS to
Messenger), Internet SMS to
messaging) are also supported.
cellular
cellular handset, global SMS are
handset,
also supported.
d
Integrated
Offering
SMS
global SMS
and chatrooms are also
supported.
MMS
Yes
Yes (August 2002). Personal
Yes (October 2002). Global MMS
(September
album provided, global MMS to
to Hong Kong.
2002).
Hong Kong.
Personal
album
provided.
© 2003 Gartner, Inc. and/or its Affiliates. All Rights Reserved.
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Mobile and Wireless Services and Service Providers in Singapore
Table 11: Messaging Services
SingTel Mobile
E-Mail
MobileOne
StarHub Mobile
Yes (Mobile E-
Yes (E-mail SMS, Mi Mail—for
Yes (SMS e-mail and i.mail—
mail).
Post Office Protocol [POP3] e-
POP3 e-mail).
mail accounts).
Fax
Yes.
Yes.
Yes.
Voice Mail
Yes.
Yes.
Yes.
Information
SMS-based
SMS-based information service
“Gee! Services” offers information
Services
information
(Info SMS, M1 Information
on:
service
Service, #123# interactive
• Lifestyle.
(*SEND). “e-
service), M1 Xplorer (32K SIM
• Sports.
ideas” offers:
card-based service to access
• News and information.
• News and
various information). “Mi World”
• Financial.
information.
offers information on:
• Directory services.
• Finance,
• News.
• Event/concert schedule and
stock and
• Finance.
ticketing.
property.
• Flight information.
•
• Lifestyle.
Entertainment.
• Sports.
• Shopping
• Movie schedules.
and travel.
• Customized alerts.
• Sports and
• Mi Diary (PIM).
gaming
results.
• PIM.
Source: Gartner.
Strengths and Limitations
SingTel Mobile
Strengths
•
SingTel dominates the market with an established and strong brand name.
•
SingTel Mobile has the most number of base stations.
•
It has over 13 years of operational experience in the cellular industry, the longest among all the
cellular operators in Singapore.
•
Its presence in five regional markets (Australia, India, Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines) allows
it to tap into a huge subscriber base. It can also benefit from best practices benchmarking.
•
It can tap on the size and scale of its regional cellular operations to realize cost savings and
synergies in the areas of product development, network and handset procurement, and marketing.
•
It has a strong financial standing.
Limitations
•
It is perceived as a government-owned company. Its attempted strategic investments in Hong Kong
and Malaysia had run into political sensitivities.
© 2003 Gartner, Inc. and/or its Affiliates. All Rights Reserved.
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Mobile and Wireless Services and Service Providers in Singapore
•
It faces challenges in crafting a coherent strategy for its cellular acquisitions in the region (Bharti,
Advanced Info Services, Telkomsel, Globe Telecom and Optus).
MobileOne (M1)
Strengths
•
M1 has a strong brand equity, and it is often perceived as being innovative and fun.
•
It is also quick in launching new and innovative services. It is the first to launch MMS in Singapore.
•
It is perceived by subscribers as having good customer service.
•
It is strong in the 19-29 age group.
Limitations
•
M1’s product portfolio is limited, unlike SingTel and StarHub, which can bundle fixed-line services
with their cellular offerings.
•
Unlike SingTel Mobile, M1 lacks the potential to reap cost savings from having a huge regional
subscriber base.
•
Growth potential in the domestic market is limited.
•
It has expressed interest in being acquired by StarHub, which might be a bad reflection on its
sustainability.
•
The founding shareholders are keen to exit the cellular business.
StarHub Mobile
Strengths
•
StarHub Mobile is recognized as having good customer service and call centers.
•
Its per-second billing offer is very well received.
•
StarHub’s merger with Singapore Cable Vision will enable it to offer fixed-line telephony, Internet
access and cable television.
•
It has gained market share at the expense of SingTel Mobile and M1 through its free-incoming call
feature, per-second billing and free IDD VoIP calls to selected countries.
Limitations
•
StarHub Mobile needs to strengthen its cellular coverage and reverse public perception that its
coverage is inferior to that of its competitors.
•
Like M1, its growth potential is limited by the small domestic market.
Insight
Cellular operators in Singapore face tough times as subscriber demand has peaked. With the market
slowing down, cellular operators have to move beyond voice services to sustain revenue growth. The
intense competition has forced them to undercut each other on price and provide handset subsidies.
Cellular operators have also shifted their focus from attracting new customers to maximizing revenue from
established customers.
© 2003 Gartner, Inc. and/or its Affiliates. All Rights Reserved.
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