SingTel Raises Subscription Price by 10%

While markets around the world plunge into their multi-year lows, employees here and abroad worry about job security, and their families cope with rising prices, our all-loving number one telco is raising its residential subscription rates by 10%.

SingTel CEO Allen Lew justified the increase, saying:

"Manpower costs in the last ten years alone have gone up by 52 per cent. Copper – the basic commodity that we need to provide the service – has tripled in the last 15 years."

ERP up. Public transport fares up. Electricity up by 21%. Now fixed line rates to go up too.

I hope salaries will also go up to match these increases. But wait, I think Acting Manpower Minister Gan Kim Yong said:

"Adjusting wages upwards to meet rising prices would only result in a 'price-wage spiral' and Singaporeans should look at the bigger picture... What is more important is for us to have a realistic expectation of wages that reflect the underlying economic strength of our industries and also of our productivity. That will allow us to ensure that our economy will be able to sustain its growth momentum... " (partly paraphrased by CNA report)

I guess we just have to cope with it.

http://www.salary.sg/2008/singtel-ra...n-price-by-10/

Options to using home phones: Handphones and free internet phone services over the internet such as Skype, with these, onc can say bye bye to residential phones.

But do not use too much on these alternative options too.

Sure Tom, but what if you are at work and not able to use free internet phone services such as skype.

Handphone rates will go up too in the not too far future.

Do people still use homephones?

Why raise the subscription now, during bad times? Isn't it adding salt to wound, where people are losing their retirement money, copying with rising tariffs?