New, 'generous' data plans from MyRepublic soon
A new and "generous" mobile plan will be offered by homegrown Internet service provider MyRepublic in October.
A plan to launch TV services in the region is also in the works, chief executive officer Malcolm Rodrigues said in a press briefing yesterday.
The announcement comes after MyRepublic's failed attempt to secure the spectrum needed to launch Singapore's fourth telco last year.
Days after the winning bid went to Australian firm TPG, MyRepublic received offers from telcos here to tap on their infrastructure, said Mr Rodrigues. It is now working with a local telco, but he declined to reveal which one, saying an announcement will be made soon.
Details about MyRepublic's new mobile plan remain scant.
It had previously announced that it would offer unlimited data plans if it became the fourth telco here.
Mr Rodrigues said yesterday that it would not be able to offer this any more and will announce something "different" from the current telco offerings in four to six weeks.
He said: "We are going to try, I don't think we can do unlimited... But we would be able to dramatically shift the amount of data available at current prices."
MyRepublic will launch its mobile plans through a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) model.
It aims for a 5 to 6 per cent market share in Singapore's mobile market in five years, Mr Rodrigues said.
Circles.life, which was launched last May and offers subscribers a no-contract mobile data plan, is an example of an MVNO. It does not own any network infrastructure and rents M1's mobile network at wholesale rates.
The cloud-based MyRepublic, which was launched in Singapore five years ago, controls about 6 per cent of the fibre Internet market and has about 70,000 subscribers.
Mr Rodrigues also clarified yesterday that MyRepublic would not be buying Singapore's smallest listed telco M1, although it had put in an expression of interest.
He said: "We were approached and asked if we could take our digital Internet platform and apply it to a transformational and traditional telco. It was a bridge too far for us."
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