This article originally appeared on Vulcan Post.
In a press briefing on July 7, the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) proposed a maximum of one new entrant into the local mobile network market.
Why just one, you ask? The IDA explained that with the size of Singapore’s mobile and global market developments, it would be hard to sustain more than four nationwide players.
Still, keeping things hopeful, they said, “The entry of a new mobile player will increase competition in the mobile services market. A new entrant is likely to bring about a wider variety of innovative services and more competitive offerings to the benefit of end-users.” Another piece of good news for interested parties is that the IDA has also made it cheaper to bid to acquire the fourth license.
To date, two parties have stated their interest in bidding for the fourth telco license in Singapore: MyRepublic and OMGTel. MyRepublic’s managing director, Mr Yap Yong Teck, said in an interview with Channel NewsAsia that the IDA proposal was “wonderful news”, and is confident that MyRepublic will deliver “sustained value and innovation for consumers”, as spelt out in the regulator’s document. Now that the papers have gone through, all we have to do is wait.
MyRepublic’s presence in Singapore has been pretty solid since the startup was founded three years ago, and it has continuously worked towards being the country’s fourth telco. Higher data limits and unlimited mobile data will be just some of the things they are promising — and we’re looking forward to this.
Here’s to better, faster, and unlimited Internet for the future — godspeed, MyRepublic.