Looking for unlimited data? We compared the telcos’ plans for the best value for money

As the competition heats up among the telco industry in Singapore, local telecommunication companies are being forced to hop on the bandwagon, to either continually enhance or improve their bundled plans creatively to steal market share among each other, or risk losing potential customers to your competitors. Fierce rivalry has been going on between the major telco companies for as long as we know now as this is nothing new to those who have been keeping up with the local news.

What does this mean? If you are a Singapore citizen, permanent resident, or someone whom is living or working in Singapore for a long period of time, you will stand to reap the attractive benefits of what is to be offered to existing or new consumers.

Let’s cut to the chase and delve deeper into the latest offerings that these telcos have put forth to us.

Nearing the end of August 2017, Starhub and M1 introduced their long-awaited mobile plans which we all have been waiting for. Targeting those who sought for more local data in their mobile subscriptions, data bundles have been refurbished to better appeal to the local market. Within a couple of weeks, their direct competition; Singtel, responded and unveiled their impressive data plan which boasts unlimited talk time, local data, and SMS/MMS.

Every telco has its own unique strategy to reinvigorate and pique the interest of existing and new customers.

 

Singtel – Complement Your Mobile Plan With Unlimited Data

Source: Shutterstock

Singtel responded to its competitors by introducing its very own version of how consumers would get to enjoy their unlimited data, through Data X Infinity. This add-on would be eligible to complement only for their postpaid plan – Combo 3 and above. By topping up a flat fee of $39.90 each month, Singtel subscribers would get to indulge themselves with all the data they could ever need.

If the unlimited data does not excite you, Singtel also allows all their customers to take up their new MobileShare as a supplementary plan for an affordable price of $10.70 each month. Main line users are now able to share their talk time, local data, and SMS/MMS quotas with a maximum of 3 family members.

 

Starhub – Weekend Long Unlimited Data Usage

Source: Shutterstock

However, Starhub has a different approach to tackle the data savvy users, as they see a higher usage of data from mobile devices during weekends as compared to weekdays. Hence, they decided to launch their unlimited weekend data plan which comprises of what you will typically see in their usual postpaid plans, but this time, with unlimited data access during weekends.

They are also bringing in their own cross sharing plans, like what the other telcos have done, with their DataShare plan at only $2.14 per month, which comes in the form of a valued added service. Starhub customers will now be able to share their bundle data so long as those numbers are under the same billing account. The differentiating factor here is that, there is no restrictions to the number of mobile lines that these data can be shared among with. That’s a great piece of news for Starhub customers!

 

M1 – Unlimited Local Data All Day Only For mySIM Plan

On the other hand, M1 decided to make a bold move by enhancing its SIM-only mobile plan, specifically the mySIM 98 with the unlimited usage of data. This is a year long contract that is suited for those who are happy with their current mobile phone or decide to get mobile phones directly from the manufacturers such as Apple or Samsung as this is not applicable with any handset purchase from the telco.

There has been no changes made to the other mySIM plans or postpaid plans at the moment. Fret not if you are looking for an alternative to sharing talk time, local data or SMS/MMS, as M1 has a supplementary plan for their subscribers, the SurfShare plan. Only applicable for postpaid mobile plan customers, you are able to share the main line’s bundle package across to a maximum of 2 users at a cost of $12.84 charged to the main line holder monthly.

 

Price comparison

 

Singtel

Postpaid – Combo 6 (24 months contract)

• $95.90/month

• Unlimited outgoing calls

• Unlimited SMS/MMS

• 1 x free data roaming plan/monthly

• Base data : 6GB

• Top up $39.90 for unlimited data

Total: $135.80/monthly

 

Starhub

Postpaid – L Plan (24 months contract)

• $108.00/month

• Unlimited outgoing calls

• Unlimited SMS/MMS

• Base data : 8GB

• Unlimited data for weekends (Saturday & Sunday)

Total: $108.00/monthly

 

M1

Postpaid – mySIM 98 (12 months contract)

• $98.00/month

• 100 minutes outgoing calls

• 100 SMS/MMS

• Base data : N.A

• Unlimited data

Total: $98.00/monthly

 

The bottom line is, every telco has their own unique way of offering their unlimited data to consumers and it is totally up to your own preference which plan or arrangement would suit your current lifestyle. Furthermore, the local mobile consumers are much more savvy and price conscious these days due to the fact that Singapore, a first world country has one of the highest standards of living, most people tend to want everything that is valued for money and that includes their mobile subscriptions. We all know that our mobile phones and smart devices are being powered by data bundled plans from the local telco. Hence, having more data and talk time at an affordable price would be the ideal scenario for most of us.

Then again, it boils down to each and every individual. A couple of possible reasons may possibly be that consumers are either brand loyal, where these new schemes and arrangement would not fazed them at all. As long as the price is the cheapest among different telcos and the plan caters to their needs, there will be no second thoughts for consumers to consider porting their numbers over to a new telecommunications company.

 

Disclaimer: Mobile plans provided are being used as comparison for reference purposes only

(By Lionel Lau)

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