Two Singapore telcos reintroduce unlimited data plans

Two Singapore telcos have unveiled new mobile plans that include unlimited data access from S$98 a month and during the weekends.

M1 and StarHub both introduced their services on Wednesday, with the former offering its unlimited data access option at S$98 a month while StarHub peddled unlimited offers on weekends for its customers.

Local operators previously offered unlimited data plans, but gradually removed these from their service offerings in line with similar moves from other telcos around the world. These had come amidst rising data consumption, limited spectrum, and increasingly congested networks, making it unsustainable to support unlimited data access.

US telcos including AT&T also brought back unlimited data plans early this year, said to be in response to customers' increasing demand for more data to stream video.

Under the new plans, M1 users would need to sign on a one-year service contract at S$98 a month to enjoy unlimited data access, which included 100 minutes talktime and 100 SMS or MSM messages. The telco also introduced three other new "data-centric" SIM-only monthly plans priced from S$20 for 5GB data, S$40 for 15GB data, and S$50 for 30GB data on one-year contracts.

Customers also could get unlimited talktime for an additional S$15 a month, said M1, which currently had more than 2 million mobile and fixed-line customers.

In its statement, StarHub said its postpaid mobile customer would have free unlimited local data access on Saturdays and Sundays.

It also introduced new service plans that kicked off at 3GB data access and 200 minutes talktime at S$24 a month for SIM-only, no-contract customers, or S$48 a month on a two-year contract. On the highest end, StarHub customers would get 15GB data access and unlimited talktime at S$119 a month for SIM-only, no-contract customers, or S$238 a month for a two-year contract.

The telco added that customers that signed up for the new plans would have data speeds of up to 400Mbps on Samsung's Galaxy Note8, Galaxy S8, and S8+, as well as LG G6, LG V20, and Sony Xperia XZ Premium.