Eight Telecom discussion thread

[JAYSCS]

If you top up S$888, you get S$1766 in the wallet. So you get 18.5 years if you go with eight S$8 4G per month plan, or around 10 years if you go with eight S$14.8 per month 5G plan.

4G may be gone as early as 2032 or maybe until 2035.

But eight allows users to switch to 5G plan at S$14.8 or S$18. So you can switch to 5G after 4G is gone, if you really want to top up S$888...

I will not want to be locked with single provider for so long ...

Let's say if 4G will be gone, the likelihood is all existing plan will be automatically upgraded to 5G network at no additional cost, so the plan life span will not be shorten but remained.

 

[BBCWatcher]

Let's say if 4G will be gone, the likelihood is all existing plan will be automatically upgraded to 5G network at no additional cost, so the plan life span will not be shorten but remained.

Probably, but the price point is not guaranteed. Although it'd be fairly odd if an operator named Eight doesn't offer an S$8 plan. Maybe they'd change their name, too?

 

[JAYSCS]

What you describe is really just a byproduct of how 5G is typically deployed when upgrading an existing mobile network: first in the higher bands, later in the low bands. AFAIK low band 5G offers at least as good coverage/range as low band 4G, other things being equal.

Singapore is a little strange because M1 and StarHub share the same 5G network (Antina) but have separate 4G networks. So you're not exactly comparing 4G apples to 5G apples with these carriers.

Eventually, low bandwidth will be used in 5G network to address the present shortcoming. Present 4G frequency allocation will be migrated to 5G. The scenario will be most 5G will be the new 4G, so the users are not benefiting from this migration yet paying higher price.

 

[xiaofan]

Probably, but the price point is not guaranteed. Although it'd be fairly odd if an operator named Eight doesn't offer an S$8 plan. Maybe they'd change their name, too?

Down the road, I tend to think <=S$8 plans are not sustainable. So we may need to pay S$10 down the road.

Then due to infration, it could be that we would need to pay low cost 5G plans at S$12 or even S$15 per month in 2035.

 

[Mancunian2]

Down the road, I tend to think <=S$8 plans are not sustainable. So we may need to pay S$10 down the road.

Then due to infration, it could be that we would need to pay low cost 5G plans at S$12 or even S$15 per month in 2035.

5g assets is still relatively new, the infrastructure is still being amortised, which show up as (high) operating cost on the accounting

once they are fully amortised, that fixed cost component goes to to near 0, which would then allow telco to slash prices

that is what probably happened with 4G when all the price wars escalated ...

 

[xiaofan]

5g assets is still relatively new, the infrastructure is still being amortised, which show up as (high) operating cost on the accounting

once they are fully amortised, that fixed cost component goes to to near 0, which would then allow telco to slash prices

that is what probably happened with 4G when all the price wars escalated ...

I am more talking about eight here but other MVNOs may follow.

There is a possibility that eight gets rid of the S$8 plan in 2030 or maybe even earlier. Let's see.

I exclude Senior Plans in the following discussions, and also special top-up offer or special promotions or data only plans.

1) Among MNOs and the MVNOs owned by an MNO, eight is the only one which still offers S$8 plans. Take note lowest cost SIMBA plan costs S$10. M1 Maxx 4G plan is at S$10, 5G plan at S$12.

2) Starhub CEO is already saying that the current situation is not sustainable.

https://www.straitstimes.com/busine...service-quality-and-security-says-starhub-ceo

While this was initially beneficial to customers, Mr Eapen said that the Singapore market is too small for prices to be sustainable at those levels, with the prolonged price wars ultimately disadvantaging the sector by curbing investment and stalling the roll-out of better services.

4) Starhub says the following focus for eight: 5G scaling and ARPU growth, in their FY25 Finance updates.

 

[Charlie_Zhan]

Probably, but the price point is not guaranteed. Although it'd be fairly odd if an operator named Eight doesn't offer an S$8 plan. Maybe they'd change their name, too?

they will increase the price and advertise it as "$12 plan with perpetual 8% discount". like that no need change name already.

 

[BBCWatcher]

1) Among MNOs and the MVNOs owned by an MNO, eight is the only one which still offers S$8 plans. Take note lowest cost SIMBA plan costs S$10. M1 Maxx 4G plan is at S$10, 5G plan at S$12.

M1 Maxx charges (as low as) S$7.90 for 360 days (12 cycles) as a standard online offer. And there are some S$5 "data only" lines (StarHub, SIMBA) available. SIMBA's S$5 data line looks pretty compelling as a hard capped "kid line" since it still has a notional 8 digit mobile number attached, and SIMBA claims it still works with WhatsApp (for example).

 

[BBCWatcher]

they will increase the price and advertise it as "$12 plan with perpetual 8% discount". like that no need change name already.

I hate to give them ideas, but I suppose an 11% price hike to $8.88 would still be compatible with their name. But if they do that they ought to grandfather existing customers with wallet balances.

This problem reminds me of the big dollar store chains in the United States: Dollar Tree, Dollar General, and Family Dollar. For many years they stuck with US$1 (plus local sales tax) prices for each item. That is, the name of the store was also the price. All of them have decoupled from dollar pricing, but they've kept their original store names.

 

[yhw22]

Just like the $1.30 dim sum. in the end now call as dim sum express but still cheap @ $1.50. with promo buy 10 free 1.

 

[JAYSCS]

I am more talking about eight here but other MVNOs may follow.

There is a possibility that eight gets rid of the S$8 plan in 2030 or maybe even earlier. Let's see.

I exclude Senior Plans in the following discussions, and also special top-up offer or special promotions or data only plans.

1) Among MNOs and the MVNOs owned by an MNO, eight is the only one which still offers S$8 plans. Take note lowest cost SIMBA plan costs S$10. M1 Maxx 4G plan is at S$10, 5G plan at S$12.

2) Starhub CEO is already saying that the current situation is not sustainable.

https://www.straitstimes.com/busine...service-quality-and-security-says-starhub-ceo

While this was initially beneficial to customers, Mr Eapen said that the Singapore market is too small for prices to be sustainable at those levels, with the prolonged price wars ultimately disadvantaging the sector by curbing investment and stalling the roll-out of better services.

4) Starhub says the following focus for eight: 5G scaling and ARPU growth, in their FY25 Finance updates.

Telco can say whatever they want actually, it eventually voice down to what the industry environment will be and dictate the price. Just like when Simba was moving in for the kill with $10 plan, ST was saying that the price plan level was not sustainable and will be adjusted but in the end, ST has to bow down by sending its minions fighting the odds.

 

[keenklee]

IMHO.
Erm... both Eight overseas, can call each other ?

 

[BBCWatcher]

IMHO.
Erm... both Eight overseas, can call each other ?

Sure, if both subscribers are in roaming countries where VoLTE is supported (or if they're on Wi-Fi and have enabled Wi-Fi calling).

Some roaming countries are data roaming only. If they're in data roaming (only) countries they can still use FaceTime Audio, WhatsApp audio calling, or similar to talk with each other.

 

[twosix]

A YouTube video that talks about 5G.

Obviously 5G is way overrated for what it can really do.





I highly doubt that 4G will be gone for so soon. Many countries especially those with large geographical area will never able to cover with 5G only anytime soon to retire 4G.

even given the signficant smaller geographical area, we do not get decent 5G coverage anywhere especially indoor.

cost to implement such many towers to cover enough like 4G is significant. But the cost that telcos can recover from consumers is even significant lower than 25 years ago when mobile phone first getting popular. The revenue per customer they can make now is significantly less years by years against the investment on 5G. This is totally against business logic. There is a significant unbalance here.

5G has its usefulness in business dealing with critical infrastructure. Eg Autonomous driving. Naturally consumers will be given lower priority.

Whether is it nsa or sa, 5G is definitely faster than 4G. The latency is lower so everything seems faster. Higher speed is actually not required as even streaming 4k hdr video need only ~40Mbps or less. 4G is enough to do that. I dread seeing 4G on my phones now. This means it takes longer time to load because of the higher latency.

 

[xiaofan]

Telco can say whatever they want actually, it eventually voice down to what the industry environment will be and dictate the price. Just like when Simba was moving in for the kill with $10 plan, ST was saying that the price plan level was not sustainable and will be adjusted but in the end, ST has to bow down by sending its minions fighting the odds.

Indeed ST MVNOs pricing is very competitive and they are the main competitor to eight and SIMBA.

They have S$7+ plans, S$10.1 plans and S$15 plans, three tier pricing, 4G, 4G with 180day or half year 5G trial, and 5G.

On the other hand, the offerings from Zym/Zero1/VIVIFI are just too similar (CMLink is also similar but a bit different due to the China Mobile number). So I tend to think one of them will be down in 2027 or 2028, probably after redONE. Since Zym/Zero1 are much more popular here than VIVIFI, I have to guess it will be VIVIFI.

Let's see how many MVNOs will be gone by end of year 2028.

My guess --> not considering the merger of SIMBA/M1 yet.
1) redONE to be gone before the end of year 2027
2) VIVIFI to be gone by end of year 2028
3) MyRepublic Mobile to be bought over by Starhub
4) Gomo and Singtel hi! to be consolidated into one brand
5) giga to be absored into eight

Then in 2029, we will have the following MNO/MVNOs
Singtel network --> Singtel, one Singtel sub-brand, Zym, Zero1, CMLink

M1 network --> M1, M1 Maxx, CL

Starhub network --> Starhub, eight, MyRepublic, CUniq

SIMBA network --> SIMBA

If we consider SIMBA/M1 merger and the combined entity will kill Maxx. Then we will have the following MNO/MVNOs in 2029.
Singtel network --> Singtel, one Singtel sub-brand, Zym, Zero1, CMLink

SIMBA/M1 network --> SIMBA, M1, CL

Starhub network --> Starhub, eight, MyRepublic, CUniq

Still pretty competitive but not as cut-throat as now.

 

[mr168]

just found out that the $8 plan comes with many data roaming restriction, China and Japan are not inside the apac group.

probably going to port out to another carrier, any suggestion?

 

[xiaofan]

just found out that the $8 plan comes with many data roaming restriction, China and Japan are not inside the apac group.

probably going to port out to another carrier, any suggestion?

ST MVNOs' S$10ish plan is an option.

Example: Zym S$10.10 plan. I signed up recently. Take note it does not have eSIM. Minimum subscription is two months (first month is pro-rated) as they charge two months fee upfront.

https://zym.sg

Roam PLUS (4G)​

912 GB

• 300GB local 4G data per month
• 1,000 local mins per month
• 100 local sms per month
• [Free] local caller ID & Incoming call
• [Free] 12GB shared roaming data per month across 13 destinations across Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Japan, S.Korea, Taiwan, Australia, China, Hong Kong, Macau, Philippines, Vietnam, India
• [Free] 600GB shared roaming data to Msia, Indo (Valid one time, for 365 days)
• [Free] Shared 300 Mins v019 IDD call per month from Singapore to Malaysia, Indonesia, China, India, Thailand, Bangladesh, Philippines, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Brunei, New Zealand, USA, Canada, South Korea, Taiwan, Australia (Excludes Australian Antarctic)
• [Free] 5G+ trial network for first 180 days

 

[mr168]

thanks, how does this "[Free] 600GB shared roaming data to Msia, Indo (Valid one time, for 365 days)" works? Do they deduct the monthly quota of 12gb first before deducting this shared roaming data assuming i go to malaysia regularly?

 

[xiaofan]

CMLink S$10.1 plan is similar to Zym S$10.1 plan.
https://www.cmlink.com/sg/en/

VIVIFI S$10 plan is also similar.
https://www.vivifi.me/

Zero1 S$10.1 plan is also similar.
https://zero1.sg/plans/zero1-basic

All the above three have eSIM.

 

[xiaofan]

thanks, how does this "[Free] 600GB shared roaming data to Msia, Indo (Valid one time, for 365 days)" works? Do they deduct the monthly quota of 12gb first before deducting this shared roaming data assuming i go to malaysia regularly?

600GB Malaysia first.

The catch about ST MVNOs: no free roaming voices.