SINGAPORE : Singapore Telecoms has joined hands with six other
Asian telcos to form a unified regional mobile network.
The Bridge Mobile Alliance will be equally owned by SingTel, its
Australian unit Optus, India's Bharti, Globe Telecom in the
Philippines, Malayisa's Maxis, Taiwan Cellular and Telkomsel in
Indonesia.
The joint venture has a combined base of over 56 million
subscribers, making it the largest in the Asia Pacific.
Based in Singapore, Bridge Mobile will invest US$30 million to
US$40 million in regional mobile phone technology over the next
three years.
Mobile operators in Asia are pretty much home based, so the moment
their customers start to roam across borders, inconsistency in
services emerge.
Apart from voice roaming, customers are handicapped especially when
it comes to data services.
So these seven mobile operators have decided to join hands in
overcoming these challenges.
Together, they can reach more than 300 million subscribers.
Said Lim Chuan Poh, chief executive at SingTel Mobile, "We believe
that by collecting operators across the region and making it a
seamless service and delivering via a central platform, it will not
only give rise to this seamlessness but also allow us to achieve
services at a very much cost-effective manner."
Bridge Mobile will also develop new products and services on a
regional basis.
Mobile users will no longer roam blindly when they are
abroad.
Bridge Mobile will ensure that they automatically roam into one of
the other partners' networks, thereby ensuring service
consistency.
One service that customers can expect from Bridge Mobile is the
convenience of topping up their pre-paid cards when they travel
overseas.
Another possible service is remittance via SMS. Customers can
simply show their SMS to the banks or remittance companies to
withdraw their money.
Bridge Mobile says it will be self-sustaining so shareholders need
not invest additional cash.
It is also looking to have another four mobile operators on
board.
Thailand's AIS has already indicated its intention to join the
alliance.
SingTel Mobile's Lim said, "We expect that beyond the seven joint
venture shareholders today, there will be more shareholders and
also members who may include non-mobile operators. It could be
technology partners or other service providers other than mobile
operators."
Bridge Mobile will be operational by the first quarter of next
year.
It expects to be financially positive within three years and plans
to go public in the future. - CNA