IMDA looking into cause of Singtel Internet disruption

SINGAPORE — Some subscribers to Singtel’s fibre broadband service said on Monday (Dec 5) they still could not connect to the Internet, more than one day after the telco said services have been fully restored.

Customers from various areas, including Woodlands, Sengkang and Serangoon, complained on Singtel’s Facebook page about having intermittent or no connectivity even after they had rebooted their modems.

In response to queries, the telco reiterated that all its fibre broadband services were fully restored by 8.25am on Sunday, after a nearly 24-hour outage islandwide.

But a spokesperson said “a small number” of customers have said they are still having difficulties, although it did not explain why.

“We are actively reaching out to them to assist them to troubleshoot their connectivity issues at their premises,” she said. “We apologise once again for the inconvenience caused and thank our customers for their patience.”

Meanwhile, the Info-communications Media Development Authority said on Monday that it takes Singtel’s service disruption “very seriously”, adding that it is investigating the cause of the incident and the telco’s service recovery measures.

Facebook user Evelyn Ong said she called Singtel’s customer service hotline and waited for “a few hours on the line hoping to get through to get it resolved but (was) disappointed”. She griped that it was a waste of time and money to have to set up an appointment for a technician to fix the problem for her.

Another affected user, Chia Hui Chaw, also questioned if more could be done in terms of compensation, particularly for those who are not its mobile customers.

The telco had said it would offer all affected customers a 10 per cent discount on their broadband subscription for the month, as well as waive local mobile data charges for Singtel users for both Saturday and Sunday.

But Ms Chaw said: “My office Internet is down and now I have to tether using my (mobile) phone (in order to connect to the Internet), but I’m using StarHub. So is Singtel gonna refund me somehow regarding this inconvenience?”