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SingTel officially launches Singapore’s first 4G service for smartphones and reins in data usage by reducing 12GB data limit.

Mr Yuen Kuan Moon, SingTel’s CEO Consumer Singapore briefing on the launch of the 4G services for smartphones.

SingTel is also introducing new Flexi and iFlexi plans with reduced data bundles from 1 July 2012.

From tomorrow (5 June 2012), customers who purchase a 4G-enabled handset with a SingTel Flexi and iFlexi plan will be able to enjoy the 4G service.

Three handsets will be available at launch: HTC One XL, LG Optimus LTE and Samsung Galaxy S2 LTE.

4G LTE network

SingTel’s 4G service will provide mobile Internet access that is up to five times faster than existing 3G-based smartphone services, with one-fifth of the network latency.

“We need to break away from the traditional one-size-fits-all approach, which is not sustainable in the long term. Today, 64 per cent of mobile data on our network is consumed by 10 per cent of our subscribers. This prevents the remaining 90 per cent from enjoying the full benefits of the network. With our tiered pricing model, subscribers will pay for what they use, and this ultimately allows us to keep prices for our plans the same over time despite rising network costs,” explained Yuen Kuan Moon, SingTel’s CEO Consumer Singapore.Users can enjoy theoretical download speeds of up to 75Mbps and typical download speeds between 3.4Mbps and 12Mbps.

SingTel will also introduce its Priority Pass traffic priority feature for the 4G service next year.

This will provide subscribers with priority for their data traffic when the network is loaded, thus ensuring smoother streaming and downloads.

Islandwide rollout of SingTel’s 4G network is expected to be completed in early 2013.

In areas where 4G has not yet been deployed, users will fallback to 3G connectivity with download speeds of up to 42Mbps.

Check the coverage diagrams at the end of this post to see when you will be enjoy LTE coverage.

Data bundles for most of SingTel’s Flexi plans have been reduced drastically from 12GB to a range of 2GB to 12GB, although the number of bundled SMS has been increased.

“At the same time, heavy users will benefit from the significantly reduced excess usage rates. Data traffic on our mobile networks has been growing at 62 percent each year since 2010 due to the tremendous growth of smartphones, tablets and mobile content. By encouraging fair usage of the network, we will be able to deliver consistently high-quality services for our customers,” Yuen said.Charges for data usage beyond bundled allowances have been revised to $5.35 per gigabyte from 1 July to 31 December 2013, and subsequently to $10.70/GB from 1 January 2013.

Approximately 10 per cent of SingTel’s subscribers who are heavy SMS users will save from the new improved SMS bundles.

The plans will be available to all new and re-contracting customers from 1 July 2012, and will replace existing 3G Flexi and iFlexi plans.

So if you don’t want to relinquish the existing 12GB data bundle, you can let the existing contract run in perpetuity – but you’ll have to forego the handset subsidies that come with re-contracting.

Mr Yuen noted that based on current usage patterns, 90 per cent of subscribers should not incur higher charges, as their data consumption does not exceed the new bundles.

Read about StarHub’s response to SingTel’s launch below.

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