Singapore, 3 June 1999 - Satisfied with SingTel’s services and confident of its proven network, corporate customers have signed long term contracts of between three to five years with the incumbent operator for leased line, international voice and frame relay services. These new deals worth more than $100 million are in addition to the $200 million in new contracts mentioned by Mr Lim Chuan Poh, SingTel’s Executive Vice-President (Corporate Business) in a recent media interview.
Local mobile phone service operator, M1, is among several major companies who have recently signed long term contracts with SingTel. The others include VISA International, Sun Microsystems, Bridge Information Systems, Banque Nationale De Paris (BNP), S.W.I.F.T. Terminal Services (Pte) Ltd and Fujitsu Singapore.
Under the terms of M1’s multi-million dollar contract with SingTel, M1 will use SingTel’s local leased circuits for five years and IDD services for three years. The other companies have signed three to five year contracts for services ranging from dedicated leased lines to customized solutions using international leased circuits and frame relay.
Customers cited SingTel’s reliability, flexibility and competitive pricing as the main reasons for their choice to commit to a long term deal with SingTel. Even with a fixed long-term contract, customers will still enjoy automatic price reductions whenever SingTel’s rates are reduced as a result of further savings from cost efficiencies. Customers also have the flexibility to make changes to their bandwidth requirements in response to their needs and market conditions. To a customer like Visa, such flexibility is a strong selling point. Waleed Hanafi, Group Manager of VISA’s Network Services said, "SingTel is a key supplier, providing the critical facilities and telecommunications links for our global network, VisaNet. We are very satisfied with SingTel’s performance and responsiveness to us. Their commitment to adjust rates during the life of the contract to reflect the competitive market was an important factor in our decision."
"It is a win-win situation for SingTel and our customers" said Mr Lim. "For SingTel, a long term contract means that we know for certain the amount of investment that must be made and the certainty of recovering the cost. All savings that we gain from economies of scale will be passed back to the customers so ultimately they enjoy a lower cost."
"Corporate networks require long term planning and testing because reliability is of the utmost importance," he added. "We have a network that is proven and tested and we are pleased at the level of confidence that our corporate customers have in our ability to serve their needs. The recent number of long-term contracts that we have secured is proof that customers are not holding back. Take M1 for example. They are not just a corporate customer. M1 is a service provider and a competitor and they know what is fair to them and beneficial to their customers. We are pleased that M1 has selected us as its long-term partner. It is a good example of how in this dynamic telecommunications business, there are opportunities for both competition and collaboration."
M1’s CEO, Mr Neil Montefiore said, "As a buyer of basic telecoms service, M1 will want to evaluate all suppliers in terms of efficiency and reliability. The contracts we have signed with SingTel are based on those criteria. This long-term commitment benefits both M1 and SingTel. In particular, it gives us flexibility to plan our resources more efficiently, in order to continue to deliver top class service to M1 customers. However, these contracts are non-exclusive and do not preclude us from seeking similar services from other telecoms operators should we wish to do so."
