Singtel waives mobile data charges as islandwide fibre broadband outage sparks outrage

SINGAPORE — Singtel’s fibre broadband services were disrupted for hours islandwide on Saturday (Dec 3), sparking customer outrage and prompting the telco to waive mobile data charges for the day as it sought to resolve the problem.

The telco said customers started experiencing difficulties accessing services at about 8.45am. However, some customers reported disruption to their services earlier. According to posts on the telco’s Facebook page, one customer said his service was disrupted since 7.30am. Others said the outage started from between 8am to 9am. 

Singtel first posted on Facebook about the disruption at 9.43am, saying its engineers were working to resolve the problem.

Many took to the telco’s Facebook page to air their frustration.

Some customers said they could not reach the telco’s hotline service officers and had their calls cut off after an automated response.

Singtel said in an update at 11.55am that its engineers were still investigating the cause.

At 1.30pm, the telco advised affected Singtel postpaid mobile subscribers to use their Singtel mobile broadband while its engineers try to resolve the outage. “We will waive their Singtel mobile data charges for today. We apologise for the disruption and thank you once again for your patience,” said Singtel.

By 2.20pm, the telco’s Facebook post had more than 8,000 comments, most of them from unhappy customers.

In response to TODAY's queries, a Singtel spokesperson said at about 6.10pm: "Regretfully, the disruption is islandwide."