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SINGAPORE: SingTel is increasing its local fixed line subscription by S$10 a year from January 1, 2009.
Residential customers will therefore pay S$110 per year in subscription and business customers will pay S$160 per year.
Local fixed line call charges will also go up from 0.7 to 0.8 Singapore cents per 30-second block during peak hours or per 60-second block during off-peak hours.
Peak hours will also be revised from 8am–6pm to 9am–7pm from Mondays to Fridays.
SingTel – Singapore's largest telco – said this is the first rate revision in 18 years and most customers will pay up to an additional S$1.50 a month with these new rates. It said the increase is due to rising costs.
Allen Lew, CEO, SingTel Singapore, said: "Manpower costs in the last ten years alone have gone up by 52 per cent. Copper – the basic commodity that we need to provide the service – has tripled in the last 15 years."
There are concerns that raising the costs of fixed line telephone services may further decrease an already shrinking market.
But with 90 per cent of local households and 100 per cent of businesses currently using the product, SingTel is confident that there will continue to be a market for it and the company plans to focus its energies to sustain it.
However, some customers felt that the rate hike is coming at a bad time.
"S$10 is not a lot per se. But I think it adds up because everything is going up!" one lady said.
"We used to have a home line, but now there are many types of communication... Internet is an alternative, so it doesn't affect me," another young man added.
SingTel said it would provide S$1 million worth of S$10 credit vouchers to help households that need financial assistance. These vouchers will be provided through Citizens' Consultative Committees or People's Association grassroots leaders.
- CNA/so
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