What is SingTel WIFI?

Since it is introduced, many phone users in Singapore have switched to 4G network which offers a faster internet. But video hungry users have easily congested this wide wide surfing road. Today in an MRT train or a crowded area, 4G may become extremely slow to the point that you cannot even load a web page.

SingTel now offers SingTel WIFI, a new plan which can switch to SingTel WIFI network whenever a hotspot is in range. Basically, SingTel is creating WIFI hotspots in Singapore and subscribers will easily switch to SingTel WIFI when a hotspot is near. The only thing you need to do is to keep Wi-Fi switched on then everything will be automated.

Currently there are 100 SingTel Wi-Fi hotspots in Singapore at 15 locations but according to SingTel there will be 1000 hotspots by March 2015. Do not expect coverage to all houses in Singapore but it will

SingTel 4G/WIFI combo plans cost $3 more and replace the existing SingTel 4G Flexi plans.

One problem with public WI-Fi is the speed or lack of it. According to SingTel, the SingTel Wi-Fi network will be 5 times faster than a typical WIFI network.

Below you can see SingTel's 4G/WIFI combo plans.

SingTel's 4G/WIFI combo plans

SingTel iPhone 5S and the iPhone 5C Contract Price Plans and Launch Date in Singapore

SingTel, the largest mobile network operator in Singapore, has announced launch dates for Apple's new iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C models along with price plans. SingTel's launch event will be on Friday September 20th and start 8 am at Exhibition Hall E in Basement 2 of the Marina Bay Sands.

iPhone 5S 32 GB model is priced at 668 SGD,  16 GB model is priced at 538 SGD and 64 GB model is priced at 818 SGD with SingTel Lite plan of 39.9 SGD per month while all models (16 GB/32 GB/64 GB) will be free with the Prestige price plan of 239.5 SGD per month.

iPhone 5C 16 GB model is priced at 318 SGD and 32 GB model is priced at 538 SGD with SingTel Lite plan of 39.9 SGD per month while all models (16 GB/32 GB) will be free with the Prestige price plan of 239.5 SGD per month.

Apple has recently released these quite disappointing models and although iPhone 5S is almost same with iPhone 5 and supposedly cheap model iPhone 5C is not cheap expect some queues in SingTel's launch event. If you are interested in these two iPhone models you can book an appointment online to purchase iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c at the launch event from 4pm onwards on Wednesday, Sept 18.

For customers who have registered, you will receive an email and/or SMS from SingTel that enables you to book an appointment with them to secure your iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c.

SingTel iPhone 5S Price Plans
	Lite $39.9/month	Value $59.9/month	Plus $99.9/month	Prestige $239.9/month
16 GB	$538	$278	$48	$0
32 GB	$668	$368	$128	$0
64 GB	$818	$528	$278	$0

SingTel iPhone 5C Price Plans
	Lite $39.9/month	Value $59.9/month	Plus $99.9/month	Prestige $239.9/month
16 GB	$318	$118	$0	$0
32 GB	$538	$238	$28	$0

Other telcos has not announced the price plans yet. StarHub on September 11th announced it will offer iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c to customers beginning on Friday, September 20.

SingTel, StarHub and M1 Samsung Galaxy S4 contract price plans for Singapore

UPDATE : This article is old and for Samsung Galaxy S4. For new Samsung Galaxy S5, visit SingTel, StarHub and M1 Samsung Galaxy S5 contract price plans for Singapore post.

Singapore's 3 telcos; SingTel, StarHub and M1 has announced their Samsung Galaxy S4 contract price plans for Singapore simultaneously, 5 days before the highly anticipated smartphone's availability here. The price plans are all similar to each other but if you have not decided which operator to use yet or you are pinching the pennies, below tables can help you to decide.

Samsung Galaxy S4 release date in Singapore is 27 April 2013 (this Saturday). Samsung has announced that the Galaxy S4 with LTE price will be S$998 without contract. Customers who pre-registered for the Samsung Galaxy S4 online with the three local mobile operators (M1, SingTel and StarHub) will be entitled to a limited edition accessory pack comprising a car charger, desktop dock and HDTV adapter, while stocks last. Registration for Samsung Galaxy S4 began on 17 April.

With a 5-inch screen equipped with a 1080p Super AMOLED panel, 13-megapixel camera and many software features like S Voice Drive, translation, smart scroll and group play Samsung Galaxy S4 is one of the best Android phones ever and is expected to be a bigger hit that its highly successful predecessor Samsung Galaxy S3.

SingTel Samsung Galaxy S4 Contract Price Plans start from the cheapest Flexi Lite which would eventually cost you $1,536 up to Flexi Premium which comes with a total price tag of  $4,920. With Flexi Premium, Samsung Galaxy S4 phone comes free. StarHub Samsung Galaxy S4 Contract Price Plans start from cheapest SmartSurf Lite and goes up to SmartSurf Elite. All 3 telcos price plans are below.

SingTel Samsung Galaxy S4 Contract Price Plan
	Galaxy S4 Price	Monthly subscription cost	Data bundle	Total Cost for 2 years contract
Flexi Lite	$578	$39.9	2 GB	$1,536
Flexi Value	$328	$59.9	3 GB	$1,766
Flexi Plus	$168	$99.9	4 GB	$2,566
Flexi Premium	$0	$205.0	12 GB	$4,920

StarHub Samsung Galaxy S4 Contract Price Plan
	Galaxy S4 Price	Monthly subscription cost	Data bundle	Total Cost for 2 years contract
SmartSurf Lite	$599	$38.0	2 GB	$1,511
SmartSurf Value	$349	$58.0	4 GB	$1,741
SmartSurf Premium	$199	$98.0	6 GB	$2,551
SmartSurf Elite	$29	$205.0	12 GB	$4,949

M1 Samsung Galaxy S4 Contract Price Plan
	Galaxy S4 Price	Monthly subscription cost	Data bundle	Total Cost for 2 years contract
ValueSurf+	$578	$39.0	2 GB	$1,514
LifeSurf+	$328	$59.0	3 GB	$1,744
ExtremeSurf+	$168	$98.0	5 GB	$2,520
MaxSurf+	$0	$198.0	12 GB	$4,752

John Lee's Facebook complaint about SingTel goes viral

"Dear singtel, all my friends are complaining about your network. How could you setup a 4G network where your 3G suck big time and you want to lower our data plan but still charge us the same price and yet we still get many drop calls and slow network. You guys are taking money but not giving us the service so here I'm complaining right at your face and wait for your feedback ..." wrote John Lee in his open message to SingTel on Facebook. He must have struck a raw nerve since his message drew 12,889 likes (and counting) while 1,000+ people commented mostly agreed with Lee's feedback .

Although SingTel may have some room to improve its infrastructure there are also other issues which makes Singapore's data speed is painfully slow. One of course is overcrowding which we also see on the trains, buses, shopping malls and roads. Second is the as much as you can data plans which basically resulted in 10 percent of SingTel's customers consume 64 percent of the company's mobile data![1] Although there is not more of this kind of abuse as much as you can plans, the existing limitless data plans will continue to suck speed until they fully expire. There are also several other issues which are actually not issue I guess. One is that you cannot buy pirated CD in Singapore which is in my opinion a good thing but as a result people are downloading more movies that their counterparts in other countries. Second is that Singapore smart phone usage rate is much higher than any other country except Korea and Japan and I see most smartphone users watching full episodes of TV shows on mobile in the train.

 John Lee's Facebook complaint about SingTel goes viral

Of course I do not mean SingTel does not have anything to blame here. They may be maintaining their network and investing to new equipment as less as SMRT is maintaining the MRT lines. I wonder how is the speed in Japan where population density and smartphone penetration is quite high.

As response to the comment SingTel's administrator wrote:

""We hear you. We would like to assure you that SingTel is committed to providing high-quality and consistent 3G and 4G mobile coverage to its customers. There are various factors that affect coverage, and these are due to the inherent nature of mobile technologies. These issues are not unique to the SingTel network and could affect customers of any operator. For example, users may sometimes experience weak reception in locations, such as basement car parks and lifts, where signals are blocked by walls and structures. SingTel has an ongoing programme to enhance and expand our mobile network. In the last 3 years, we have invested more than S$2 billion across our networks, including mobile. We are adding more base station sites islandwide and upgrading existing ones to handle more traffic.""[2]

I have the same speed problem with StarHub and actually it get's worse when you are nearer to city center (I guess due to the density of users there) and weekends. I do not think speed-wise M1 is different. I frequently travel to Ho Chi Minh City and there the internet I use is 10 times faster than in Singapore. You can drive faster on 4 lane (Saigon's network) when there are moderate number of cars than 16 lane road (Singapore's network) with a traffic jam.

[1] - SingTel 4G smartphones are on sale today
[2] - Frustrated Singtel user draws 10,000+ likes and 800+ comments and growing

SingTel will launch 4G tablet service with Prestige 75 plan

Singapore Telecommunications Ltd (SingTel) is launching 4G service for tablets in Singapore starting from August 28th 2012 which will allow its users to access speeds more than three times faster than current 3G services. The 4G service for tablets will be paired with a new subscription plan, the Prestige 75. Singapore's first fourth-generation (4G) tablets will be Asus Transformer Pad TF300TL and Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9 (Long Term Evolution - LTE). They will be available at all SingTel stores by August 28th.

The Prestige 75 plan has a theoretical maximum speed of 75Mbps. But this speed can be hardly achievable in everyday usage. SingTel  promises a minimum download speed of 3.4Mbps and a maximum of 12Mbps.

SingTel Prestige 75 plan subscription plan will cost either 49.90 Singapore Dollars or  64.90 SGD per month depending on the size of the up front payment for the tablets:

For ASUS Tranformer Pad TF300TL 49.90 Singapore Dollars with up front payment of 549 SGD and 64.90 SGD per month with up front payment of 429 SGD.

For Samsung GALAXY Tab 8.9 (LTE) 49.90 Singapore Dollars with up front payment of 449 SGD and 64.90 SGD per month with up front payment of 329 SGD.

All these plans are for 10 GB bundle and $5.35 per GB (w GST) 1 July to 31 Dec 2012. $10.70/GB (w GST) from 1 Jan 2013. $94 (w GST) cap applies. [1]

[1] - SingTel to launch 4G service for tablets
[2] - SingTel launches Singapore's first 4G service for tablets