SingTel overhauls its customer service in rebranding exercise

SINGAPORE — Come April, SingTel customers can expect technicians to arrive at their homes or offices within 30 minutes of the appointment time, instead of up to two hours, the telco said yesterday as it moved to overhaul its customer service.

Starting yesterday, customers can also make an online appointment to visit a SingTel shop to buy a new device or recontract their lines. And from March, those calling its hotline can choose to have customer service officers call them back.

The changes to its customer service are part of a rebranding exercise, which SingTel unveiled yesterday.

Explaining the focus on customer service, SingTel group chief executive Chua Sock Koong said customer service is being ramped up amid increasing customer expectations and competition from OTT (over-the-top) players.

“... When we look at competition in Singapore, it is not just against the traditional telco players. It’s against a lot of the OTT players and having a superior customer experience is something that would truly differentiate us,” she said at a press conference.

OTT players, such as free messaging app WhatsApp and video provider Netflix, distribute their services using text and multimedia, including video, over the Internet. The rebranding exercise involves a change of logo to reflect SingTel’s progression into a multimedia and information and communications technology services company, with the last change being in 1999. On how much the rebranding exercise cost, including staff training and technology upgrades, SingTel’s Consumer Singapore chief executive Yuen Kuan Moon only said it was “substantial”.

Ms Chua also addressed recent concerns by telecommunication companies that OTT players, such as WhatsApp, are riding on their networks to provide their services. She suggested last year that regulators should allow telcos to charge OTT providers for the use of their networks.

Yesterday, Ms Chua reiterated that OTT players would need to look at how they can work with the telcos and signalled that such collaborations are on the horizon. “The telcos provide the network and for OTT players who have applications that are very bandwidth intensive, if the network owners don’t upgrade their networks, the OTT players cannot deliver a good experience to their customers as well.

“... If you look at the whole eco-system, you know there is dependency of the OTT players on the network providers and it would make sense for commercial deals and arrangements to be developed over time. And it has to be win-win in the end.”