Zit Seng's Superwall

It looks like SingTel Mobile has mucked up again. In the late afternoon, I found that my mobile phone had no signal. After rebooting, it seemed to be okay. So perhaps it was my phone. Then my colleague noted that he had no 3G data connection on his SingTel Mobile line. Later in the evening, for much of my trip home, my phone again had no signal at all. When it did, it had no data. Eventually, I got to find out that people have been calling me and were not able to get through. The callers were not on SingTel Mobile network and they got a network busy message calling my phone.

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If SingTel plays their cards right, I think they’re going to win lots of customers. Their win of the English Premier League broadcast rights in Singapore last week surprised many people. The immediate reaction of most people was one of worry of how much it would cost them to watch soccer in the coming years. It costs quite a lot to watch soccer with StarHub. Will they have to pay just as much with SingTel? Or perhaps more, considering that SingTel must have put in a very high bid to win the rights, and would thus naturally have to recoup their investments? Many people were concerned that the telco competition could spell trouble for consumers.

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It happened when I upgraded my phone with M1 previously. It happened when I got a Hub Station with StarHub. Now the same thing happens with SingTel when I got my N97. I don’t know why these companies have to muck up your bill when you go through an “equipment upgrade”. They do the equivalent of terminating your service, and then reinstating the service. Since the service is simply being retained, why bother with the paper charade?

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Hello, Singapore. SingTel has announced their iPhone 3G prices. You could get the phone free, if you’re willing to shell out $205 every month for the next 24 months. The prices are high, but not unexpected (see here and here). Once M1 and StarHub get into the fray, the prices might fall. Or it might drop anyway soon after launch, because Singaporeans are not going to fall simply for the iPhone “wow” factor.

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After much speculation over the last many months, it is now officially confirmed that SingTel will launch the iPhone 3G in Singapore on 22 August 2008. The same day will also see the iPhone 3G launched in about 20 other countries. The Reuters report of SingTel’s announcement said nothing more. I guess the next biggest question on everyone’s mind is: How much?

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Has anyone noticed problems with the SingTel Mobile network this evening? I just started to observe the problem at around 18:55 in the evening, although I’ve heard from others that the problem had started earlier. Basically, my phone could not connect to the network. No signal at all. I was getting out of my house, and some 5 minutes drive away, I got a signal, but a SMS text message I was trying to send did not get sent.

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The news is out. SingTel will be selling the Apple iPhone from September. I posted earlier this year about the possibility after The Age reported Optus’ exclusive deal to sell the iPhone in Australia. Well, it’s still not clear right now whether it will be the 3G version or not, but I guess if we’re talking about September, a 3G or 3.5G version will likely already be launched by Apple. Personally I’m not terribly excited about the iPhone. But it will be interesting to watch how the Singapore market reacts to the iPhone’s introduction.

Edit: The news of SingTel’s deal came out on CNA. (I know, the article does say SingTel has refused to confirm or deny.)

I finally succumbed to temptation and found myself having to get the latest Nokia N95 8GB phone. So after much online research, including comparing telco price plans, I finally trotted down to a SingTel hello! store over the weekend. The crowd was horrendous (blogged here). I eventually gave up on that Saturday night, and returned back before the opening time, 11am, the next morning.

To my surprise… there was a long queue already formed. What was happening? SingTel wasn’t giving away free phones eh? And there was nothing like a super-sale or anything of that sort. (The M1 store was just as badly packed, and the Starhub road show was still hopelessly sparse.) Ok noted the original N95 selling at $398 was drawing the crowds, and it turns out it was already out-of-stock on Saturday. Notices were posted outside the shop but it seems like few people took note of them.

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“Just one Zinger burger to go.”

“Okay. Having here?”

“No, to go.”

“Having here?”

Okay, she doesn’t understand “to go”. Alright, perhaps most of us would say “take away” or even “packet”.

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