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[PAY MORE] 3G Telcos


AlexToh13
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http://sg.news.yahoo.com/blogs/fit-to-post...-073953723.html

 

Some smartphone users in Singapore may see themselves paying more for data usage, as all mobile phone service providers here intend to review their existing 3G packages and may revise charges to deter massive usage by users, according to a report by investment firm Kim Eng.

The report, released on Monday, cited plans by local telcos to reduce generous data caps, scrap the current unlimited data option in 3G packages, and roll out more usage-based plans in the future.

The review comes after the ever-increasing adoption of instant messaging platforms and Voice over IP (VoIP) applications such as WhatsApp and Viber. Such tools allow mobile users to send text messages and make phone calls for free, thus eroding the need to pay for costly voice calls or SMS, the report noted.

A spokesperson for StarHub confirmed with Yahoo! Singapore that the company is indeed working on reviewing the price scheme for its data packages and may consider rolling out usage-based data pricing.

"We are reviewing current pricing plans and consider introducing usage-based data pricing to ensure optimal network quality for our customers," said Chan Kin Hung, StarHub's head of products and solutions.

"In addition, we will not offer unlimited mobile broadband plan on the Long Term Evolution (LTE) platform when we launch our LTE service, which is likely to take place in the second half of 2012," he added.

The revised charges, if skewed towards a pay-per-usage basis, will hit hard customers who use a lot of data on a frequent basis. However, customers may see an improvement in network quality.

StarHub is the only telco here that offers the unlimited data option to its customers, while packages by SingTel and M1 have a data cap of up to 50GB.

In 2009, M1 increased the data credit on its iPhone plans from 10GB to 12GB a month. At that time, both StarHub and SingTel were offering customers data packages with low data caps -- 1GB and 500MB respectively, according to iMerlion.

 

 

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Price Fixing again. All 3 telcos doing at the same time.

 

Where is the biteless dog ? watchdog that is.

 

Govt owns parts of all 3 companies. Free market my arse.

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I own a smartphone and an iPad on a dual SIM setup and hardly ever go above 2 gb a month out of my 10 gb quota. People who can max out their 10 gig are people who deserve to pay for more for it.

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I thought LTE considered new network. Will it have a new contract when it is launched?

Cuz current broadband plans are tied to bandwidth (e.g. 4mbps, 7.2mbps) and data cap.

 

If LTE is launched in say June 2012, it will have bigger bandwidth (say 20mbps or more??).

Will a contract signed on Mar 2012 for 7.2mbps be extended to LTE in June?

I don't think so, right??

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Turbocharged

on average, i use about 2GB monthly..

 

These farkers must be feeling the bite due to lesser revenue from phone calls and SMS.. <_<

 

Better don't follow US/Europe/OZ.. where the norm free data is 100-500MB... :angry:

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on average, i use about 2GB monthly..

 

These farkers must be feeling the bite due to lesser revenue from phone calls and SMS.. <_<

 

Better don't follow US/Europe/OZ.. where the norm free data is 100-500MB... :angry:

 

I :wub: M1 FREE call to 3 pre-specified M1 numbers [thumbsup]

 

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Turbocharged

I :wub: M1 FREE call to 3 pre-specified M1 numbers [thumbsup]

 

My whole family on Singtel.. get 30% discount off subscription monthly.. On average, i pay ~$25-$30 bucks for my phone bills for a data plan which cost $39 [:p]

 

Except for the months which i travel on work.. last month in China, my phone bill is $400..

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on average, i use about 2GB monthly..

 

These farkers must be feeling the bite due to lesser revenue from phone calls and SMS.. <_<

 

Better don't follow US/Europe/OZ.. where the norm free data is 100-500MB... :angry:

 

Actually they are not targetting people like you or me lah. There are corporate entities which make use of the unlimited data plans to establish mini WLANs onsite using 3G routers. The bandwidth might not be much but altogether the total data consumed over a period of say a month is ALOT. Then there are individuals who subscribed to such plans to do nonsense like alot of video streaming and bittorrent. The bandwidth might sucks but the cost to value ratio does not. All in all, if you use the way you do now and the cap in no way affects you, then whatever grudge you are feeling is symbolic.

 

Of course you can tell me that the telcos can go expand their data bandwidth country wide by building more cell towers etc but you know that that is not going to happen without a boomerang effect on us.

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My whole family on Singtel.. get 30% discount off subscription monthly.. On average, i pay ~$25-$30 bucks for my phone bills for a data plan which cost $39 [:p]

 

Except for the months which i travel on work.. last month in China, my phone bill is $400..

 

Bro, mind sharing with me what scheme is that to give you 30% discounts, as my family members of 4 are also using SingTel service, but they did not give me any discount.

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Bro, mind sharing with me what scheme is that to give you 30% discounts, as my family members of 4 are also using SingTel service, but they did not give me any discount.

 

should be company coorperate deal lar...ST is famous for "dont give a damn deal".... [:p]

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To be honest, the 3G data speeds in Singapore are so variable in different locations, from good to poor to no signal. Sometimes even in CBD, you can lose data connections. For a highly built-up city without much any country side to begin with, I personal feel the quality of service is terrible.

 

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Would love for Ida to review telco network capacity planning. In Msia, hk, nz, I am experiencing a mich better surfing experience. Also bejg a StarHub user, after they deployed the china huawei advance signaling module that is lee compatible, service took a turn for the worse.

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