Record number of fibre broadband sign-ups in June, as Singapore subscribers top 380,000

More than 31,000 users signed up for fibre broadband services in Singapore in June, setting a new record for the number of subscriptions in a month as 100Mbps and faster connections become increasingly common in homes here.

Many of the new users hooked up on the fast lane during the PC Show last month. The number of subscribers for fibre broadband now stands as 380,000, less than three years after the first commercial services went online in August 2010.

Revealing the figures today, Opennet attributed the “robust demand” of late to the aggressive promotions from telcos facing some of the fiercest competition in the country in years.

The national contractor for rolling out the fibre optic cables said it will be hooking up 2,000 more fibre points a week in July and is committed to boosting its installation capacity by 30 per cent next week. Installers will also turn up for appointments on Saturdays.

Opennet has faced unhappy users who say they have to wait for weeks for a fibre point to be “turned on” so they can connect up to a telecom operator providing the broadband service. The government regulator has also pushed for it to connect up more users more quickly to meet demand.

Part of the boom has to do with telcos trying to attract users with low prices so they can be tied up for the next two years in subscription contracts.

The completion of the nationwide network rollout to “reach” 95 per cent of homes last year has also increased the number of users switching over from traditional broadband services.

The benchmark 100Mbps service now goes for under S$40 a month, with M1 even offering 200Mbps occasionally for the same price.

Smaller service providers, such as Viewqwest and MyRepublic, have also come up with innovative offerings, like add-ons that let people watch American shows broadcast overseas as well as low-latency links catering to online gamers.