Singapore Government Press Release

Media Division, Ministry of Information & The Arts, #36-00, PSA Building, 460 Alexandra Road, Singapore 119963, Tel: 3757794/5

SPEECH BY MR GOH CHEE WEE MINISTER OF STATE FOR TRADE AND INDUSTRY AND COMMUNICATIONS AT MOBILEONE'S NETWORK SWITCH-ON CEREMONY CUM LOGO LAUNCH ON 3 DECEMBER 1996 AT 11 AM AT THE SHANGRI-LA HOTEL

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Today's ceremony marks another milestone for MobileOne in its quest to become a key player in the local telecommunications scene. Barely one and a half years after it was awarded the licences to provide both public cellular mobile telephone and public radio paging services in Singapore, and just nine months after it first started the construction of its network, MobileOne has completed the roll-out of its network ahead of schedule to enable us to gather here today to witness the network switch-on.

The remarkable progress made by MobileOne epitomizes MobileOne's keenness to enter the local telecommunications sector. It also demonstrates MobileOne's readiness and commitment to be a credible player in Singapore. By completing its network four months ahead of 1 April 1997, MobileOne has provided itself with more than ample time to test and fine-tune its network to prepare for its commercial service launch and also to meet the quality of service standards laid down by TAS.

We are entering an exciting era for the local telecommunications industry. All eyes are now on 1 April 1997, when we will have direct competition in the cellular mobile phone and radio paging services. This competitive environment will represent a drastic change from today's environment, for both the customers, the industry players as well as the industry regulator.

Customers will have more service providers to choose from, as prices will become more competitive and so will the offering of services in terms of variety and quality. The industry players, both telecommunication service providers and equipment suppliers, will have to adjust themselves to operate in a more competitive environment, one that is different from today where we have only one service provider in both the mobile phone and paging service market. The industry regulator, TAS, will have to prepare itself for a multi-operator environment by providing the necessary regulatory framework to ensure that competition is fair and the results beneficial to the consumers.

We expect competition to be keen, but we also expect it to stay within healthy limits. Competition will be played according to the ground rules laid down by TAS, who will take up the important role as the referee. At the end of the day, however, we need to remind ourselves that competition is not an end in itself, but it is the result of competition: more choices of service providers for the customers, competitive prices and better quality of services, which is what we really want to see happening in Singapore's telecommunications industry.

We also do not expect competition to centre around the existing customers. That will be too short-sighted. While there will be some competition for existing customers, the new players and the incumbent alike should really look towards expanding the existing market.

For the cellular mobile phone market, at 11% penetration density, or about 1 out of 10 Singaporeans subscribing to a mobile phone, there is still some way to go before we come close to the 20 over percent of some developed countries, whose penetration rates and markets are still growing. Even for the paging market, where at 31% penetration is already one of the highest in the world, there is still room for the players to go beyond basic paging into higher value-added services. This suggests that industry players need to be more innovative in today's market in order to reach out to the customers. In a relatively small market like Singapore, the service providers would also need to compete on the quality of their services, both in terms of network quality and after-sales customer support, in order to win the loyalty and patronage of the end users. With the existing and new operators striving to out-perform each other in serving the consumers, the future bodes well for the end users.

MobileOne has pledged itself to providing top quality services that will meet the needs of its customers. If it continues in the same spirit and vigour with which it works at rolling out its network, we can all look forward to associating the new MobileOne orange and blue logo with good quality services.

In closing, I wish to congratulate MobileOne for its excellent progress in rolling out its network and to wish them all the best for the years ahead.

Thank you.