Vol. 13 Issue 12 | 27 April 2007
Service delays annoy SingTel mio
users
By Victoria Ho
ComputerWorld Singapore
Close to 100 customers of SingTel mio experienced trouble using the
service recently, causing some to question whether the integrated
mobile phone, fixed line and broadband offering was sufficiently
tested before commercial launch.
In an email reply to Computerworld Singapore, a SingTel
spokesperson said less than one per cent of 10,000 plus
subscribers were affected.
The telecommunications company was reluctant to discuss technical
details, but added: We discovered that customised wiring set-ups
for residential phone lines and the use of telephones not certified
by IDA (Infocomm Development Authority) could have affected our
installation process and service quality. These are temporary
technical issues and our engineers are confident of resolving them
very soon.
The mio hardware delivers internet, IP (internet protocol)
telephony and mobile phone connectivity services through a single
IP gateway.
Service downtime first came to light in a local newspaper, which
reported that customers could not use their residential phone lines
or surf the internet, or both, several days at a time. A user,
Razali Abdullah, reportedly asked why system bugs werent fixed
before the launch in January.
The newspaper also ran coverage of negative feedback, with many mio
users saying that set-up was rife with technical delays and phone
lines went down for several days.
Hardwarezones online forums saw complaints as well. A user who
goes by the handle of snowystorm said the problems he experienced
for more than two months went unresolved.
He said the three times that a technical assistant came down to fix
the issues proved unfruitful.
When one arm/leg [sic] breaks down, the rest of the services
[will] fall like dominoes, said another forum poster,
xcelerator.
