SINGAPORE: Circles.Life on Tuesday (May 22) launched a new salvo in Singapore’s data wars: A zero-dollar mobile plan offering 1GB of data "with no strings attached".
The Flexi Plan also comes with 30 minutes of talk time and 10 SMS messages, and customers can choose to top up the data capacity - with S$8 for 1GB and S$12 for 2GB, the company said during a media briefing.
AdvertisementBesides mobile data, subscribers can also add an extra 30 minutes' talk time with 10 free SMS messages for S$5, the mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) said.
“Technological evolution is reshaping the way businesses operate and the way people run their lives. That’s why we believe in empowering people by making digital access more available for everyone,” co-founder Rameez Ansar said in the press release.
“For this reason, we released the Flexi Plan giving them access to the Internet with no strings attached.”
The company added that it will continue offering the S$28 base plan for 6GB of data per month as well as the S$48 monthly plan for 26GB.
AdvertisementAdvertisementCircles.Life’s latest offering comes a week after another MVNO, MyRepublic, entered the fray and offered two mobile plans to its existing customer base and those who supported its unsuccessful bid to be the country’s fourth telco.
Its Uno plan similarly offers 1GB of mobile data, but at S$8 monthly. It comes with 1,000 minutes of talk time and 1,000 SMS messages, and the company also promised to eliminate "bill shock" by not charging users for exceeding the data limit.
It is not just the virtual operators disrupting the local telecom landscape either.
Australia-based telco, TPG Telecom, which is gearing up to be Singapore’s next full-fledged telco, intends to launch a plan targeting the elderly here. It said it plans to offer 3GB of monthly data and unlimited local calls at no charge for the first 24 months.
GOING OFFLINE, QUICKER ACTIVATION
Besides taking aim at Singaporeans’ large appetite for mobile data, Circles.Life is also tackling oftentimes expensive roaming charges.
It is offering new pay-as-you-go roaming rates at 70 per cent of the current ones in 34 countries, including the United States, United Kingdom, Malaysia, Hong Kong, India and Australia. Essentially, this means it would cost S$3 per 100MB, the company said.
Circles.Life is also partnering SingPost to bring its mobile plans to brick-and-mortar outposts. Customers can sign up for the plans via its kiosks at the General Post Office, Sengkang and Woodlands post offices from Tuesday, and this will be rolled out to other locations in future.
The virtual operator touted a sign-up process of less than five minutes, and the SIM card can be collected on the spot. Activation will be done in less than an hour, it added.
“The post office is an integral part of the neighbourhood, providing postal and other essential services to the community,” said SingPost's senior vice-president for group sales Sara Kalle.
“We are pleased that Circles.Life has leveraged our islandwide network of post offices to make it more convenient for people to obtain digital access.”
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