The fibre broadband market in Singapore is set for another shakeup with Singtel’s low-cost brand Gomo now offering 10Gbps fibre broadband at an aggressive S$29.99 a month.
The pricing is the lowest in Singapore, matching similarly priced offerings by rivals Simba, MyRepublic and virtual operator Whizcomms, which leases Singtel’s network to connect up homes in Singapore.
ViewQwest, meanwhile, prices its 10Gbps services at S$30 a month only for the first 10 months of a 24-month contract, while StarHub and Singtel both charge more than S$30 a month. M1 offers a S$29.90-a-month plan without a Wi-Fi router thrown in.
Gomo’s plan, unveiled yesterday, comes with a free Wi-Fi 7 router for those who sign up a 24-month contract. Folks who are on Gomo’s 5G+ mobile services get a further 15 per cent discount on their broadband bill.
Since the government’s push to upgrade home broadband to 10Gbps in 2024 with a S$100 million fund, service providers have been rushing to sign up consumers with more attractive offerings.
Within a couple of years, costs have come down to the same as or lower than previous 1Gbps fibre broadband plans, which had held steady between S$30 and S$40 for most providers. Now, however, prices have tumbled yet again.
While the early moves were made by smaller players such as ViewQwest, Whizcomms and Simba, the rest of the market has had to follow by dropping prices.
Singtel’s latest attempt through Gomo is a reflection of the competition in telecom services that have impacted operator revenues but enabled consumers to enjoy ever faster speeds.
Many homes are not wired up for 10Gbps fibre and the basic Wi-Fi they get from operators in a bundle likely won’t provide top speeds. However, consumers are likely to pay less for the faster speed than if they stay with an old 1Gbps or 3Gbps plan from before, so the impetus to upgrade is clear.
