StarHub offers new WeChat prepaid plans

StarHub offers new WeChat prepaid plans

STARHUB has launched a new data plan to get prepaid users not using 3G data to try out the service, as well as give existing prepaid data users more choices.

The telco has teamed up with social-messaging service WeChat, developed by China-based Tencent Holdings, to allow its prepaid customers to chat all they want for 40 cents a day or $6 a month.

Data usage is capped at 1GB a day on the WeChat app, which lets users send text messages and share photos and animated "stickers". WeChat users can also press a button to speak to a group of friends.

Prior to this, StarHub had only prepaid data plans that cover both Web surfing and use of social-messaging service at a flat rate.

Three months ago, SingTel announced a similar partnership with California-based WhatsApp.

~News courtesy of Straits Times~

StarHub extends deadline for BPL cross-carriage orders

StarHub extends deadline for BPL cross-carriage orders

StarHub on Tuesday extended the deadline for Barclays Premier League (BPL) cross-carriage orders, saying that it is ready to deploy more resources to help subscribers who sign up for BPL matches have their channels activated in time for the new season.

It added that it must receive cross-carriage provisioning orders from SingTel by 15 August 7pm in order to do so.

The new league season begins Saturday with Liverpool playing Stoke City at 7.45pm Singapore time.

StarHub said it is doing this despite the cross-carriage regime which allows it five working days to process all orders.

It received the first batch of valid orders from SingTel on Monday.

Customers who wish to take up the BPL package with StarHub will need to first sign up with SingTel.

SingTel said in a separate statement that customers must sign up by 4pm Thursday to catch first match.

~News courtesy of Channel Newsasia~

StarHub's prices of packages to be paired with BPL content

StarHub announces prices of packages to be paired with BPL content



StarHub has announced the pricing of its packages to be paired with Barclays Premier League (BPL) matches cross-carried on its platforms.

It said those who sign up or re-contract for one of its two Surf & Watch bundles and register for BPL content to be cross-carried on its platforms will get a S$300 rebate off their bill.

The first bundle comes with 100Mbps fibre/cable home broadband and is priced at S$62.37 per month.

The other, which comes with 25Mbps cable home broadband, costs S$47.37 per month.

The rebate of S$300 applies to both bundles.

Those who want to sign up for the deals will first have to register with SingTel for BPL content to be cross-carried on StarHub platforms, and pay SingTel S$59.90 per month.

This is in addition to the bundle prices.

~News courtesy of Channel Newsasia~

EPL $59.90/month for both SingTel & StarHub

Standalone EPL channels to cost $59.90 per month for both SingTel and StarHub viewers

SingTel has announced on Friday the new price plans for the upcoming season of the English Premier League (EPL) which kicks off on August 17.

The ala-carte EPL content, with nine channels, will cost $59.90 per month for both SingTel mio TV users as well as StarHub's pay TV customers, the latter which SingTel is obliged to provide under the cross-carriage regulations.

The price is significantly higher than its old $34.90 per month sports bundle which came with EPL channels, Champions League and other sports content.

However, existing mio TV customers who are still on contract will get to enjoy the old price plan until the expiry of their contracts.

~News courtesy of Straits Times~

SingTel announces pricing of BPL subscription

SingTel announces pricing of BPL stand-alone subscription

SingTel has announced the pricing for the next season of the Barclays Premier League (BPL), saying that majority of its BPL customers will be "unaffected".

The pricing for EPL stand-alone subscriptions will be at S$59.90, while existing mio TV Gold Packs are still available from S$64.90, said the announcement.

As only stand-alone content will be cross-carried, the stand-alone subscriptions will also be available on StarHub's pay-TV platform also at S$59.90 a month. Gold Packs will not be cross-carried after the Media Development Authority (MDA) decided that bundles were exempt from cross-carrying.

The new pricing "applies only to new subscriptions or those customers who are renewing their contracts", said SingTel.

SingTel will also be making the BPL available to more fans with screenings at community centres, but will release more information on these plans later. SingTel has added that it will spend S$100 million to enhance the quality and reliability of its service.

Meanwhile, SingTel also said that it "expresses disappointment with the Minister’s decision to not grant its appeal against the directive by MDA" for the cross-carriage of BPL content, but added that it respects the Minister's decision even though it believes that the BPL rights contract is "non-exclusive".

“We have made every effort to ensure our representation was heard because we believed that this was in the best interest of football fans. mio TV was set up to give customers choice and breathe new life into sports coverage. Our intention was to give customers certainty of content at competitive prices,” said Mr Allen Lew, Country Chief Officer-Singapore, SingTel.

~News courtesy of Channel Newsasia~

SingNet's appeal against cross-carrying BPL rejected

SingNet's appeal against cross-carrying BPL live matches rejected

The Minister for Communications and Information has rejected SingNet's appeal against cross-carrying Barclay's Premier League live matches over the next three seasons.

This means SingNet now has to make the live matches that are to be played from 2013/2014 to 2015/2016 available on StarHub's platform.

A ministry statement said the decision was made after careful consideration of the written arguments from both SingNet and the Media Development Authority of Singapore (MDA), which had issued the direction on cross-carriage of the matches.

It added that the decision was made based on the assessment of a number of factors, including whether clauses in the agreement between SingNet and the Football Association Premier League Limited would prevent or restrict the BPL content from being acquired or otherwise obtained for transmission on selected network platforms in Singapore by other pay-TV operators.

It noted that the key objectives of the Cross-Carriage Measure include addressing the high degree of content fragmentation and encouraging pay-TV operators to shift from a content-centric strategy to other forms of competition, such as service and content innovation.

It said pay-TV operators should keep this in mind and continue to provide better value to the consumers.

The statement suggested that MDA should consider providing further guidance on the circumstances that may trigger the Cross-Carriage Measure so that pay-TV operators can provide more certainty to consumers.

~News courtesy of Channel Newsasia~

Services to cut data-roaming bill shocks

Services to cut data-roaming bill shocks

Singtel and StarHub yesterday announced services that can help prevent bill shocks from surfing online overseas with mobile devices.

SingTel said it is offering a free add-on for its unlimited $15 per day data-roaming plans. It automatically connects a customer's mobile gadget to the telco's partner networks in 44 markets.

Previously, this was done manually. Customers who accidentally connect to non-partner networks will have to pay $20 per MB of data used.

StarHub launched a data-roaming service with an aim to prevent similar bill shocks. But it does so differently, as customers can connect to any mobile network in 20 destinations to enjoy the service's cheaper rate of $10 per 50MB per day. The rate will become $18 from October.

StarHub plans to extend the service to over 230 overseas destinations in time.

~News courtesy of Omy~

SingTel mobile cashless transaction service

SingTel launches mobile cashless transaction service

Telco SingTel has launched a new mobile phone cashless service that allows people to pay for things using digital currency.

Called mCash, users apply for an account which can be topped up with money.

They can then use money from the account to do fund transfers, and in the coming months, pay for groceries and do online shopping.

mCash is not limited to SingTel's customers. Subscribers of other telcos can also sign up for the service.

The service is free for the consumer to use.

Consumers will be able to use mCash via a smartphone application or text messaging.

~News courtesy of Channel Newsasia~

M1新服务：出国可用WiFi尽情上网

M1新服务：出国可用WiFi尽情上网



即日起，身在国外的第一通（M1）手机用户可利用一项新服务，在全球多个热点（hotspot）衔接上无线网络（WiFi），尽情畅游网络世界。

第一通昨天宣布推出本地首个为后付（postpaid）手机用户提供的“无线网络漫游服务”，用户只需事先从苹果iTunes或谷歌Play商店（Google Play Store），下载“M1 WiFi Roaming”应用程序，再设立账号，即可在超过120个国家和地区的多个热点无线上网。

使用平板电脑的用户，也可通过同款应用程序，衔接上无线网络。这项服务不设注册费或月费，只有当用户成功衔接上无线网络后，才需缴费。

第一通表示，亚太区和美洲国家收费为每天12新元，其他地区的每天费用则为19新元。

第一通说，这项服务将为出国旅游的一般和商业用户，提供既负担得起又快捷方便的上网选择。

～以上新闻转载自OMY～

Timelier updates on MRT

Timelier updates on train services: SMRT

SINGAPORE: Commuters can expect train operator SMRT to provide more frequent and timely updates in the event of a service delay or disruption.

It's working on sharing as much information with passengers including how long a delay will last.

A lack of communication and clear information was one major issue when the five-hour train disruption took place on the North-South Line on 15 December.

Some commuters who were stuck in the trains said they were not updated on the situation, or how long the disruption will last.

SMRT admits there has been too much focus on rectifying the fault rather than keeping commuters informed of the situation.

Tan Kwong Chye, chief controller, Operations Control Centre, SMRT, said: "Whenever there is a train fault, the TO (train officer) will make the first announcement inside the train and then he will continue with his fault rectification work."

SMRT's Operations Control Centre (OCC) will now play a bigger role.

While train drivers continue to rectify the fault, officers at OCC will take over to give regular updates to commuters in the train, every two minutes.

This may come in the form of new pre-recorded messages or live announcements.

The assurance given is that SMRT will share more information, where possible.

Tan Kwong Chye, chief controller, Operations Control Centre, SMRT, said: "With these new announcements, it lets passengers be more aware of what is happening, what we at OCC are doing, and also the estimated time of delay. So that passengers are more aware and assured of what is going to happen.

The announcements are currently done in English and Mandarin for now.

SMRT said it is still looking for manpower to do the announcements in Malay and Tamil.

Getting drivers to be more pro-active right at the start of a delay or disruption, is another challenge.

SMRT said that most of its train officers are Singaporeans and they are trained to make announcements in English.

Moving forward, it's now looking at giving better training to make them more comfortable with public speaking so that announcements can be made on a more regular basis, in the event of a delay or disruption.

SMRT is also looking into shortening the time it takes to decide when to evacuate passengers in a stalled train.

Currently, the decision is made by the 15th minute to detrain passengers from the train to the track, provided that there is no power supply to the tracks.

~News courtesy of Channel Newsasia~

手机简讯通知故障 SMRT本周就可启动

手机简讯通知故障　SMRT本周就可启动

SMRT企业已同电信公司积极洽谈，发手机简讯通知乘客地铁系统出现故障的通报系统已准备就绪，最早能在一周内启动这项服务。

SMRT发言人昨天回复《联合早报》询问时说：“SMRT在探讨该如何通过广发简讯来让乘客获知地铁服务中断的信息。我们正在同三家电信公司讨论，该如何使用它们现有的移动通讯网络，在最短的时间内，告知最多的乘客。”

地铁系统去年年底连续发生故障，影响约20万人。乘客怨声载道，斥责SMRT没有及时提供有关地铁故障的信息。

当时，许多不知情的乘客仍然前往地铁站乘搭地铁，导致地铁站周围人潮拥挤，许多乘客无法按时抵达他们的目的地。

交通部长吕德耀前天在国会表示，SMRT已经启动了一系列措施，来确保各方的紧急应对措施更加到位，减低对乘客的冲击。

《联合早报》

M1用户今天可享免费本地服务

M1用户今天可享免费本地服务

第一通（M1）本月18日发生技术故障影响手机网络，为向客户表示歉意，它今天将让所有后付和预付订户享有一天免费的本地通话、简讯和彩信（MMS）。

那些签了无限通话和简讯配套的使用者虽然无法从今天的赔偿行动中受惠，第一通会让这些使用者少付一天的电话费。

这家电信公司昨天下午发表文告指出，由于其中一个客户管理服务器（customer management server）的卡在本月18日发生技术故障，影响了手机网络。至于总共有多少使用者受影响，第一通表示无法提供任何数据，但强调只是少数。

对于这个赔偿客户不便的举动，电信市场分析员撒亲·古普塔（Sachin Gupta）认为，这么做可能会留住一些准备转换电信公司的用户。

然而，签了200多元配套的商业用户林妍伶（亚洲招聘主管，38岁）说，她已经要员工帮忙找其他电信公司的电话配套。她理解到技术问题偶尔会出现，但最令她不满的是第一通处理事故的态度。

据她指出，前几天，她向第一通要求赔偿，但这电信公司通过电邮向她解释，他们既然已经道歉，就不再亏欠用户。这让她觉得顾客并没有被重视。“他们认为道歉就代表一切，态度非常恶劣。”

《联合早报》