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SINGAPORE: Mobile phone operator MobileOne (M1) is venturing into the fixed broadband market in a move industry watchers say is inevitable amid growing competition in Singapore.
M1 will be the third fixed broadband provider, the other two being SingTel and StarHub.
On the entry of M1, Kenneth Liew, a senior market analyst at IDC Asia/Pacific, said: "It's hard to gauge whether it's positive or negative in the short term because it depends on their marketing strategy, and how they can actually grab the market share from the rest of the players.
"For them, the cost in the infrastructure is very low, in fact they are just leasing the line from StarHub, so there is not much of an infrastructure investment, so start-up cost is very low."
M1 has had mobile broadband since 2006. Its new fixed broadband data service will come in the form of four unlimited data plans on varying Internet speeds, the fastest is at 100 Mbps.
Pricing is competitive, with subscription fees starting at a low of S$40.60 a month. M1's fixed broadband service will run on a cable modem, similar to that of StarHub's.
Although the two operators are using the same technology, they are not in direct competition, said IDC's Kenneth Liew. "For customers, they won't be too concerned about the technology being used, it's just the bandwidth that is being offered," he said.
The fixed broadband market currently has a penetration rate of above 75 per cent.
The move by M1 is its latest effort to keep up with its peers, creating bundled mobile and broadband offerings to draw customers.
- CNA/ir
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