Singapore, 31 January 2007 - Singapore Telecommunications Limited (Singtel) today announced that from 1 May 2007, local calls made from Singtel’s coin and card payphones will be charged ten cents in two-minute blocks.
Since the 1960s, Singtel has embarked on various initiatives to enhance the payphone service to customers. They include the introduction of phonecards and card payphones in 1985; IDD service for payphone users in 1986; credit card payphones in 1988; and NETS and chip-based payphone cards in 1994.
However, payphone charges have remained unchanged at ten cents for a three-minute local call.
The rate revision aims to defray the costs of operating the payphone network without compromising on quality and convenience.
Over the years, the company has been taking steps to reduce overheads as part of its ongoing cost management efforts, and also in view of the decline in payphone usage due to the popularity of mobile phones1.
Examples of these cost control measures include optimising the payphone network distribution by aligning usage and location as well as reducing the manual handling of coins by replacing coin with card payphones.
Singtel continually upgrades its payphones and has the largest network of about 9,000 payphones today. The company remains committed to be the main provider of affordable and quality public payphone services in Singapore.
For enquiries, customers can call 1800-838 3322.
1 The mobile penetration in Singapore as of November 2006 was 101.5 per cent.
