Virtual mobile telco Zero Mobile (also known as ZeroSG), which is headquartered in Australia, launched in Singapore back in December 2017.
It leases mobile network from Singtel, and is the second virtual mobile telco to launch here after Circles.Life.
Fast forward two years later, Zero Mobile has stopped offering mobile services in Singapore.
Last month, it emailed its users that it will discontinue its Zero Xs and Zero X plans, which offered unlimited data at S$49.95 and S$59.95 per month respectively.
According to Singtel, Zero Mobile said that it aims to stop offering both these plans by December 9.
With this termination, Zero Mobile urged customers to “take immediate action” and port over to another provider.
It is not clear how many customers were affected by this move.
Faces “Sabotage” From Competitors
There are currently over 10 telco players in Singapore. To stand out from this crowd, Zero Mobile CEO Glenn Mohammed said that it’s necessary for them to “(take) a step back” to properly assess the market landscape.
They are looking to innovate themselves and are currently working on a new product.
Mohammed told TODAY that the firm’s not exiting the market just yet and will be making a comeback with “new and modular pricing plans” in the “coming days”.
He added that it has been difficult for the company because of foul play from competitors and “un-creditworthy customers”.
He claimed that competitors would “sabotage” his company such as faking service applications and reviews, as well as instigating regulators to revoke their license.
According to TODAY, an internal audit revealed that the first few applications received by Zero Mobile were from employees of competitors.
Customers Default On Payment
As for the customers, Mohammed said that they have been abusing Zero Mobile’s services and racking up debt with the firm.
In fact, around 30 per cent of its revenue for the past two years remain uncollected.
“Coming in from Australia, our credit terms and processes were quite generous as we did not expect such a high number of customers to default on their payment obligations in Singapore,” Mohammed told TODAY.
This problem has been persisting for some time now.
Previously, he told Channel NewsAsia in April this year that a “very high number” of subscribers defaulted payment to them for months.
“Another issue was abuse of service where, due to some technical limitations earlier on, the data usage wasn’t being controlled. A number of individuals spotted that and abused the service by using more than 600GB in a single month before defaulting on their account.”
Unfazed by these challenges, the telco remains firm in its commitment to grow its presence in Singapore and is currently focused on getting its product and technology right.
Featured Image Credit: Zero Mobile