IMDA to publish findings of Singtel disruption investigations, ‘strong regulatory action’ could be taken
Telco service providers are held to "high service standards", said Minister for Digital Development and Information Josephine Teo.
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SINGAPORE: The Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) will publish the findings of its investigations into a recent series of incidents where Singtel users reported service disruptions, said Minister for Digital Development and Information Josephine Teo.
Speaking in Parliament on Tuesday (Apr 7), she said the ministry will take “strong regulatory action” if lapses are found.
"I would like to assure members that MDDI and IMDA take all service disruptions seriously and we recognise the concerns raised," Mrs Teo said.
She added that service providers are held to "high service standards" through various regulations.
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"We note that Singtel has provided one-time rebates for affected mobile subscribers as part of their service recovery. In the meantime, IMDA's investigations are ongoing, it will publish its findings after investigations are completed, and will not hesitate to take strong regulatory action, should any lapses be identified."
Mrs Teo was responding to a series of questions from Members of Parliament (MPs) on the mobile disruptions reported by Singtel for three consecutive days from Mar 16 to 18.
In an apology, Singtel CEO Ng Tian Chong said on Mar 19 that the disruptions were caused by a "mechanical fault" and "should not have happened".
On Mar 16, around 15 per cent of Singtel users started experiencing mobile connectivity issues from about 10.30am.
Though 4G services were restored by around 1.30pm and 5G services were progressively from 2.45pm, full 5G services were not restored until around 8pm that day.
Mrs Teo said that preliminary reports showed the Mar 16 incident affected more than 600,000 Singtel mobile customers and lasted for about nine hours.
In a separate incident a day later, around 2,000 customers faced mobile connectivity issues due to "a software bug from an earlier pre-planned IT system upgrade".
The issue was resolved around 4pm that day.
Following the outages, Singtel carried out some network reconfigurations on Mar 18 to "further stabilise and optimise performance", during which there was a brief spike in network traffic at around 5.30pm.
The issue was resolved within about an hour, Mr Ng said, adding that the events were unrelated.
Asked if IMDA will consider mandating telcos to provide real time live information whenever outages occur, Mrs Teo said that service providers "can certainly improve" the timeliness of their updates to their subscribers and to members of the public.
She added that authorities will also look at how well operators have done in terms of communicating with their subscribers and members of public when assessing their responses to incidents.
SINGTEL'S REBATES OUT OF OWN VOLITION
Singtel announced on Mar 31 that all mobile customers will receive "goodwill" rebates following the disruptions.
The rebates will be reflected on customers' bills within the next one to two billing cycles, with no action required, the telco said in messages to customers.
Singtel did not specify the amounts involved, but CNA is aware of customers being notified of rebates of S$5 (US$3.90) and S$10.
Responding to a supplementary question from MP Ang Wei Neng (PAP-West Coast-Jurong West), Mrs Teo said this was a move the telco undertook out of its own volition.
She added that in most markets, telecom services are "quite competitive", which means that there is an interest on the part of providers to "maintain goodwill" with customers.
"And so in this instance, Singtel has decided that the service disruption lasted long enough, it impacted a ... wide swath of people," Mrs Teo said.
"Many of their customers were inconvenienced, and they decided that they would offer a one-time rebate as part of their own service recovery."
She added that telco service providers have in some cases commercial arrangements with bigger customers and may have built into contracts conditions where compensation would be due.
"We are not privy to all the details of these arrangements, but I can say to the Member that they do exist," said Mrs Teo, responding to a question from MP Gerald Giam (WP-Aljunied) on what "accessible recourse" is available to consumers and small businesses.
"So some of the customers may already be seeking damages from the telco service providers when an incident of this nature happens."
Mrs Teo said that while regulators in the UK and Germany require consumer compensation when certain forms of disruptions happen, the scope is "quite limited" and the Singtel incidents in March would not have qualified.
"It is overall not a common requirement," she added.
Mrs Teo also said that the authorities track "performance issues" of telcos "very carefully".
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