SingTel chief executive Chua Sock Koong nearly caused an online firestorm on the first morning of the Mobile World Congress 2014 in Barcelona. She was quoted by The Sydney Morning Herald as saying that telcos should be allowed to charge over-the-top (OTT) players for using their networks, "The main problem we have as an industry is we have been unable to monetise this increased demand...and (average revenue per user) has fallen over time." The fury unleashed resulted in Singtel quickly clarifying that it will not charge consumers separately for using services like WhatsApp and Skype.
Their revenue model will surely take another hit if Singapore startup Gentay Communications succeeds with their VoIP-based
Nanu service, funded by an unnamed Japanese corporate investor and our very own Sim Wong Hoo, CEO of Singapore-based Creative Technology. Father-and-son team, Martin and Daniel Nygate, expanded on what is fundamentally a VoIP technology originally developed to support low bandwidth ship-to-shore voice communications for the maritime industry. With an Android smartphone and access to wifi you can now make free calls to landlines in 41 countries, including the US and the UK, while free calls to mobile phones will work for Germany, Hungary, India, Ireland, Israel, Singapore, Spain, Thailand, and the US. The price you pay is a voiceover advertisement over the ringtone while waiting for a response from the receiving end.
Not bad for an alternative to the automated "operator is busy" message whenever you dial Singtel for assistance. Nanu believes that everyone around the world has the right to make free phone calls and is on a mission to end phone bills once and for all. That must sound Greek to a telcom that charges for telling you the time of the day. Notice that while innovative folks in the private sector contribute to reduce the cost of living, the
Very
Evil
People in the government linked entities connive to make everything more expensive, being it toll charges for using the Causeway or healthcare. Who do you think ends up paying for the special bonus and 10 percent salary increment lined up for the 23,000
voters nurses?
Obviously mercenaries are needed to make more money for our Government while greed has become the only core value for PAP.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, who is paying for those "National Day" community dinners all over the heartlands during one of which our PM has the privilege of distributing 'pioneer cards' ? So they must have specially invited a certain 'privileged' group of pioneers to attend these dinners in order to receive those cards from the PM himself ?
Maybe that explains why they flip-flopped in revealing whether GIC & Temasek uses CPF funds for investment ? They had a more 'noble' reason being to promote the PAP's brand of pork barrel politics at the country's (or CPF members?) costs ?
Isn't our PAP Govt practising a distinct brand of pork barrel politics not unlike those rice subsidies which have driven Thaksin & his sister out of their PMship ? The question arising will be do we have the bravery to tell PAP enough is enough and don't deceive us anymore ?
They call it "pork barrel" politics in the good ole USA. They call it "rice subsidy" politics in the Land of a Thousand Smiles. We in Sinkieland have the "hungry ghost" politics. LOL.
DeleteIn Matland, they call it the "boleh" politics.
Delete"hungry ghost politics" in Sinkieland/SinCity easily trumps USA and Matland. Besides helping themselves to millions of taxpayers' money, hungry ghosts politics will haunt the judiciary to dispense the right judgement, haunt the mainstream media to print the right stuff, heck! even override our constitution.
DeleteCertainly Sinkieland is haunted by hungry ghosts milching everything in sight, leaving the scraps to the peasantry to squabble over. The appearance of the owl at the Istana is an omen. In time to come the ghost of the old fart will continue to haunt the politics and all the institutions here.
DeleteThere are a lot of foreigners working as nurses and security guards. Increase their pays mean we Singaporeans have to pay more bills. Long time ago those under work permit are not allowed to get pregnant but now if you go to hospitals, you will see a lot of foreign nurses pregnant and I was told they will get 3 months maternity leave and go back to their country to give birth then return to S'pore to work. Not wonder our cost of living keep on increasing.
ReplyDeleteJust like the emperor used clones to re-populate entire solar systems, FTs are given increasing income today to ensure better chances for their next generation. Which means within 1 generation, papigs have realised the old fart's genetic re-engneering objective of totally neutering non-pap voters with presumably compliant FTs. Your sons will serve NS, theirs will get exemption to go on scholarships or work for google in silicon valley (btw, is he back?). VEP on the dark side.
DeleteYour article would have better punch if the last line mentioned the obscene pay and bonuses of those jiak liao bees ministers and their minions, instead of the due that accrues to the hard-working nurses.
ReplyDeleteIt is a bad policy on population growth that led to high cost of living in S'pore. It is a vicious cycle, let in more people, build more housing, build more shopping malls. Bring in more construction workers, more security guards, more service staff. Transport cannot cope, bring in more foreign drivers. Population increases, not enough hospital beds, build more hospital, bring in more foreign nurses. the cycle goes on and on. The island becomes more and more crowded, more and more expensive.......
ReplyDeletePopulation growth and govt policies are the key driver of inflationary vicious cycle, hot money laundering adds more fuel. Everything is done to drive up inflation and lower interest rates so that nominal income rises, this is to "ensure" the 500b of bank loans in the banking system gets "repaid" (in nominal, not real dollars) - there is no other way out of this deeply flawed, debt-driven economic "model". We need a reset, boot out the charlatans.
DeleteTelco greed has been a gripe of many people for a while now. But let's be fair - M1 and Starhub have also been as guilty as ST when it comes to implementing policies that benefit their bottom line instead of their customers. The reduction of monthly data caps for 4G/LTE customers is a good example: all three of the telcos have instituted the same practice, with not one of them seemingly willing to go against the others in a bid to make its services more attractive.
ReplyDeleteSometimes the new policies / billing practices they implement are so similar, and they seem to make announcements about them all around the same time, that one cannot help but wonder if there is some collusion going on.
Wasn't the opening up of the telecom services market supposed to spur competition for the benefit of customers? Instead we get screwed with things like the exorbitant Premier League and World Cup subscription packages. Now those were really OTT.
More than 18,000 ̶v̶o̶t̶e̶r̶s̶ officers from the Home Team will get up to 12% salary increments, and sign on bonuses of up to $30,000. I suppose these will spur them to perform better, given the recent immigration checkpoint fiasco, and the Little India riot. Who says it doesn't pay to screw up!
ReplyDeleteWith the v̶o̶t̶e̶r̶s̶ foggies getting the Pioneer Generation package, the 23,000 ̶v̶o̶t̶e̶r̶s̶ nurses their increments, who's next? Not that I am begrudging them anything, but then "where is the money coming from"? VEP, 10% GST etc...leave it to their scholars to hatch up more revenue churning schemes. Appeasing the hungry elections ghost with such munificence, I suppose 2016 will be a shoo-in for the PAP.
It is wrong collecting too much of it especially from the blood, sweat, tears and real hard work from others...that is what's wrong u undying piece of shiet..
ReplyDelete