Thursday, March 22, 2007

StarHub trials pfingo, a WiFi service

TeleGeography reports StarHub, the #2 telco and #3 mobile operator in Singapore, is trialing a new platform, dubbed pfingo, among 30 users for 3 months.

Pfingo is open to subs from SingTel and MobileOne as well and works on any handset. Users receive a new number and for a fixed monthly fee are allowed unlimited on-net voice minutes (pfingoTALK), as well as pfingoACTIVE (not sure what that is) and pfingoMAIL.

Pfingo uses WiFi connectivity.

Comment: Given the size of the nation and the state's broadband targets, it looks like pfingo's WiFi network will have full coverage. At a decent pricepoint, it will not only cannibalize StarHub's own voice revenues, but possibly those of its competitors as well. It could signal a new round of pricing pressure. Of course it remains to be seen how well it works and how it deals with full mobility (handover). I wonder how it is supposed to work on any handset. It looks like the service's purpose is to offload data traffic and free-up some capacity for StarHub's voice services.

Update (March 23): Check out this post. StarHub is taking Vodafone's 'Starfish' quite a few steps further.

No comments: