'NO FIGHT': While Mr Quek acknowledges that it is still too early to make assumptions, as many subscribers are either still under contract or waiting for better deals, he believes the introduction of mobile number portability will not see telcos fighting tooth and nail to acquire customers. -- ST PHOTO: JOYCE FANG

The telecommunications giant believes the introduction of mobile number portability last Friday will do little to undermine its market dominance.

In the few days since, the movement of customers to and from SingTel has been 'statistically insignificant', the telco's executive vice-president for consumer business, Mr Quek Peck Leng, told The Straits Times yesterday.

Since last Friday, an advertising blitz across Singapore has seen offers of unprecedented handset subsidies and jaw-dropping deals, including one offering a six-month free mobile subscription.

SingTel is Singapore's biggest and oldest mobile operator. With 43.4 per cent of the post-paid mobile market, it has the most to lose to StarHub and MobileOne (M1), which have about 30.4 per cent and 26.2 per cent of the mobile market, respectively.

The introduction of mobile number portability removes one of the biggest hurdles to consumers switching operators - reluctance to abandon a number known to friends, colleagues and business contacts.

Mr Quek acknowledges it is still too early to make assumptions, given that some subscribers are still contracted to telcos while others may be hoping for a price war to break out.

He believes, however, the Singapore market will not see the kind of upheaval experienced in markets like Hong Kong, where telcos fought tooth and nail to acquire customers.

Some analysts, and even its rivals' executives, have described SingTel as having adopted a highly aggressive strategy to acquire customers in recent months.

Mr Quek, though, countered: 'SingTel has not been the most aggressive telco this quarter. We have been pretty rational.'

SingTel has been raising its market share over the last two years, he said, 'earlier and cheaper' than what its rivals are doing today.

Having locked down some 900,000 new subscribers over the last two years, SingTel does not need to go head-

to-head with its rivals, especially at a time when customer acquisition costs have hit 'unprecedented highs'.

Even so, he said, the last few weeks have been 'painful for everybody'.

Such levels of spending are unsustainable, and things should 'settle down' by the next quarter.

In the long term, he is confident SingTel can keep its dominant market share.

Subscribers really only 'churn out (in large numbers) if they are totally unhappy' with basic services, for example, if calls drop out in the middle of conversations, he said.

SingTel, he said, has been careful to spend not just on handset subsidies and marketing to win customers, but also on hardware to ensure it has the 'gold standard' network in the Republic.

Mr Quek also downplayed the likely impact of SingTel's exclusive deal to distribute the much-hyped Apple iPhone and iPhone 3G. Despite being good products, these are just two of the many new handsets the telco launches every year.

While the iPhones will sell well, SingTel is unlikely to move anywhere near 150,000 of these handsets in Singapore. Its best-selling phone model, which Mr Quek declined to name for diplomatic reasons, sold that many units last year.

The good news for Apple fans is that SingTel should have the recently announced iPhone 3G on the shelves some time between July and September, at a 'mass market friendly price...nowhere near' the 499 euro (S$1,059) price tag in Europe.

Buyers, though, will have to sign up for a SingTel subscription, although the phone can be used on any mobile network in Singapore, unlike in the United States where iPhones are 'locked' to only work with one operator.

chuahh@sph.com.sg

Despite the introduction of mobile number portability, there is no need to go head-to-head with other telcos, and the Singapore market will not see the kind of upheaval experienced in overseas markets, says telco