Zero1 Mobile discussion thread

[twosix]

The biggest users of rcs is in USA. Sg is just a drop in the ocean. Haha.

 

[JAYSCS]

The biggest users of rcs is in USA. Sg is just a drop in the ocean. Haha.

Indeed, but Whatsapp is a globally communication standard (except China) being compatible to almost all OS. To dethrone it is an uphill battle for the time being.

 

[riona]

Charging or limited free SMS are the misteps of telco which led to the uprise of Whatsapp. Actually when Whatsapp was introduced, telcos should just open its SMS both local and overseas free to everyone, now Whatsapp becomes the king of texting. Even RCS being the new gen of SMS came a little too late, making it difficult to become main stream too with its compatibility issue.

Unfortunately telcos can't give free sms as it utilizes the cellular network which cost a lot of $$$ to run, infra cost, licensing cost, etc. Telcos has major constraints like need to bid for costly spectrum, maintain min. uptime, etc. which WhatsApp do not need to do. RCS was built in 2007/8 to take the legacy SMS system to the next level but initially Apple didn't want to participate as it already has iMessage (pls correct me if I'm wrong). I think it was forced by China to either include RCS or stop selling 5G Apple phones in China.

 

[JAYSCS]

Unfortunately telcos can't give free sms as it utilizes the cellular network which cost a lot of $$$ to run, infra cost, licensing cost, etc. Telcos has major constraints like need to bid for costly spectrum, maintain min. uptime, etc. which WhatsApp do not need to do. RCS was built in 2007/8 to take the legacy SMS system to the next level but initially Apple didn't want to participate as it already has iMessage (pls correct me if I'm wrong). I think it was forced by China to either include RCS or stop selling 5G Apple phones in China.

It depends on the mindset of the telcos actually, once the network and infrastructure is set up, like data, SMS is essentially incurring minimal cost. If foreseeing social apps are going to take over almost all SMS function, telcos really has to provide SMS free to save it from being replaced, instead they prefer to let it die off and becoming a mere function tool for OTP.

RCS is definitely a good idea and yes, taking this route is a good strategy to counter other social app threat to SMS but as its implementation requires many factors to accomplish, it could not battle barrier free social apps (of cos in 2007, SMS still reigned the texting world though Blackberry BBM, MSN Messenger and email were arguably the very potential threats). As for iMessage, no, the fruit brand has no iMessage in 2007, it only has a first iPhone and it only runs 2G , its app store was introduced only in the 2nd gen iphone in 2008, iMessage only came out in 2011. And as mentioned b4, Apple in-house apps purpose is to draw people to buy the products to benefit from these apps, nothing else. So when Whatsapp started to expand exponentially in 2011, iMessage were just to provide an alternative exclusive texting tool to the selected group, although it might hv the underlying intention that this app could make it conquer the mobile world with migration rush, that was definitely too ambitious with its device pricing greed.

You are right that China is quite the major factor to push RCS in 5G iPhone in order to sell the device in China, although EU also requires RCS too. Ironically, RCS becomes US most popular texting tool, as for China, nobody cares abt RCS, WeChat is still the king of texting tool.

 

[lordfa9]

It depends on the mindset of the telcos actually, once the network and infrastructure is set up, like data, SMS is essentially incurring minimal cost. If foreseeing social apps are going to take over almost all SMS function, telcos really has to provide SMS free to save it from being replaced, instead they prefer to let it die off and becoming a mere function tool for OTP.

Minimal cost still money no?

I don't really agree with the way telcos seem to be phasing off SMS, because I think its an essectial service (compared to putting your trust in whatsapp (controlled by Meta) or telegram or wechat)

But i get the point that if fewer and fewer people want to use it, it should go

 

[lordfa9]

Does anyone know how to check the join date? I want to see if my 100GB/365 days malaysia data lapsed

From what I can see most of my services like roaming ets were "activated" on 10 June 2025

So if that was the date ported in means by right should have 1 more month to use the 100GB data allotment

 

[gapboy]

Does anyone know how to check the join date? I want to see if my 100GB/365 days malaysia data lapsed

From what I can see most of my services like roaming ets were "activated" on 10 June 2025

So if that was the date ported in means by right should have 1 more month to use the 100GB data allotment

email billing@zero1.sg or check your emails from Zero1 when you register for the line

 

[JAYSCS]

Minimal cost still money no?

I don't really agree with the way telcos seem to be phasing off SMS, because I think its an essectial service (compared to putting your trust in whatsapp (controlled by Meta) or telegram or wechat)

But i get the point that if fewer and fewer people want to use it, it should go

Of cos there will be minimal fixed cost, just the level difference, even when we are using Whatsapp, Telcos is footing the data cost bill too, but worse, not earning anything out of it. Though one may argue data subscription were the income but data subscription income will still be received regardless of using Whatsapp or not. The only way to compete with Whatsapp then is to provide free unlimited local and global SMS by all telcos, but none seems to look into such collab. Instead, looking at the incumbant impractical RCS implementation.

SMS will not phase out as it is the integral part of the telco communication structure. The point I am trying to drive at is, SMS could be the texting default but it somehow lost the opportunity, ending up being just a niche tool for OTP.

 

[Qubicfactor]

Of cos there will be minimal fixed cost, just the level difference, even when we are using Whatsapp, Telcos is footing the data cost bill too, but worse, not earning anything out of it. Though one may argue data subscription were the income but data subscription income will still be received regardless of using Whatsapp or not. The only way to compete with Whatsapp then is to provide free unlimited local and global SMS by all telcos, but none seems to look into such collab. Instead, looking at the incumbant impractical RCS implementation.

SMS will not phase out as it is the integral part of the telco communication structure. The point I am trying to drive at is, SMS could be the texting default but it somehow lost the opportunity, ending up being just a niche tool for OTP.

Fun fact: considered bad practice to send OTP via SMS as it's sent unencrypted and can be intercepted. So even this supposed use case is well on the way out.

 

[poland_ball]

Singtel seems to have rolled out SA much more widely now. My office which used to get NSA is now fully SA but performance seems to have tanked. Always getting lag spikes when playing games and upload speed test is abysmal.

Edit with pic of speedtest. Wtf is this

 

[gapboy]

Still NSA at my office 34th floor at Raffles .. Singtel office is not far from me in george Street.

 

[Jurong640]

services management page now shows 700GB data. This mirrors what zym is doing.

 

[gapboy]

services management page now shows 700GB data. This mirrors what zym is doing.

z1 says no need to request .. they will include for existing users if management approve when they replied me last time lolz

 

[Jurong640]

z1 says no need to request .. they will include for existing users if management approve when they replied me last time lolz

haha good try. This isn't the second time they say this. I don't believe. But anyway, it doesn't matter now. Previous 500GB is already more than enough. In before, they start roll-over data

 

[poland_ball]

z1 says no need to request .. they will include for existing users if management approve when they replied me last time lolz

400, 600, 700 GB. Got difference meh?

 

[AMD_Duron]

400, 600, 700 GB. Got difference meh?

For those who don’t have wifi at home. Probably yes.

 

[poland_ball]

For those who don’t have wifi at home. Probably yes.

The SA network seems pretty bad. Doesn't seem stable enough to replace wifi at home

 

[AMD_Duron]

The SA network seems pretty bad. Doesn't seem stable enough to replace wifi at home

Maybe unique to the places you frequent. For my case, 5G is quite covered, except for places like some supermarkets where it does drop to 4G for me

 

[twosix]

400, 600, 700 GB. Got difference meh?

most users will not see any difference. i hardly use more than 10gb per mth.

that's why telcos give out so much data, is actually almost zero costs to them. just like going for a buffet, some will eat more, but most eat less.

 

[gapboy]

Maybe unique to the places you frequent. For my case, 5G is quite covered, except for places like some supermarkets where it does drop to 4G for me

Despite extensive 5G deployment, network congestion causes unavoidable latency and bandwidth fluctuations during peak usage times