Islandwide disruption leaves Singtel mobile users hot under the collar

SINGAPORE — Singtel mobile subscribers were unable to access the Internet or had patchy connections for several hours this afternoon (April 22) , with some also complaining that they were unable to make calls.

Complaints about the outage started streaming in before noon, and continued through past 10pm although the telco posted on its Facebook page at 5.30pm saying “mobile data services have been fully restored”. Through the evening, users also groused about being unable to connect to the 4G network. 

The disruption aside, Singtel’s customers were angrier at the telco’s handling of the incident, ridiculing its decision to post the initial announcement and updates through social media when users on the move were unable to connect to the Internet.

Ms Caroline Chung, 23, who works as a clerk in a bank, said: “Singtel should have sent an SMS to notify us about the problem. What’s the point of updating Facebook when we cannot even access the Internet?”

Another affected customer, engineer Danny Wong, 35, who was among those who complained about being unable to get through Singtel’s hotline, added: “I almost went to buy a new phone because I was on the move and didn’t know that there was a service disruption.”

Asked how many users and which areas were hit by the disruption, Singtel could not comment. But going by the comments left on its Facebook page, a wide swathe of the island was affected, from Changi Airport, to Queenstown and Choa Chu Kang.

Responding to TODAY’s queries, the Infocomm Development Authority said that it is investigating today’s service disruption.

Singtel first posted on its Facebook page at 2.45pm that customers may “experience intermittent difficulties accessing 3G and 4G mobile data services”, without explaining the source of the problem. But some Facebook users had complained about not having Internet connection more than an hour before that.

No details were given as to what caused the disruption in its four subsequent updates either.

Nanyang Polytechnic student Justin Prahlad, 19, who was one of those affected, groused: “It took them so long to realise there’s a problem and to release a statement.”

Marketing assistant Darren Lim, 27, added: “Network failure is (understandable); nothing much we can do about it. But what’s the excuse for the poor way Singtel managed this problem? They don’t even announce it when it started and when they finally do, it’s hours later.”

He added: “I just wish Singtel can pick itself up and do better next time on announcing any future problems. I hate being so frustrated wondering what’s going on.”

Today’s service disruption was not the first from Singtel this year. In January, its broadband services were unavailable for a few hours. 

In October 2013, telecommunications services and essential services across the island were crippled for more than 24 hours after a fire at Singtel’s Internet exchange building in Bukit Panjang. The incident, which knocked out various services, including in banks, at AXS kiosks and polyclinics, saw the telco being fined a record S$6 million.