SINGAPORE — Telco M1 will be adopting a one-minute minimum charge for outgoing local voice and video calls on per-second billing plans from Jan 1, 2014.

M1 customers will be notified of these changes via their December bill statement, said a M1 spokesman. The changes were first publicised on the M1 website.

“From 1 January 2014, outgoing local voice and video call usage on Per Second Billing plans will have a minimum one-minute charge and billed per second thereafter,” said M1 on their website.

"M1 is committed to provide quality services and value to our customers," said the spokesman. "While we have continuously invested to enhance our network performance and reliability, calling rates have remained unchanged for over 10 years. We have also increased the bundled value of our customers' service plans over the years, such as more voice minutes and SMS, as well as faster surfing speeds.

"Customers can find out more about the tariff revisions as well as the applicable mobile and mobile broadband plans on www.m1.com.sg/psb and www.m1.com.sg/datacharges. To monitor their voice and data usage, customers can download the free My M1 App from the Apple App Store and Google Play."

This move follows competitor StarHub’s move in April, with voice and video outgoing local calls charged based on an “initial block of 1 minute and thereafter at per second rate, with effect from 1 May 2013”.

For SingTel, “local talktime is charged based on an initial block of 1 minute and subsequent blocks of 6 seconds rounded to the nearest cent on a per call basis”.

EXCESS DATA CHARGES DOUBLED

M1 will also be doubling its excess data charges to S$10.70 per GB, with the maximum excess charge capped at S$188.32 from Jan 1. It had previously charged S$5.35 per GB, and capped that maximum excess charge at S$94.16.

"These changes may impact a small number of customers who use in excess of their bundles," said the M1 spokesman.

These new charges are in line with SingTel, which had earlier doubled its mobile charges for 4G customers who exceed their monthly data bundle. SingTel said that its earlier rate was a promotion which ended on Sept 15.

“The rate of $5.35/GB for 4G local excess data usage (data that is used beyond the monthly data bundle) was offered as a special promotion with the launch of our 4G service in June 2012,” said a SingTel spokesman on Aug 14.

StarHub’s promotional data excess charges will also expire on Dec 31, with the rates returning to their usual price of S$8.56 per GB. The maximum data bill will now be capped at S$85.60. StarHub’s promotional rate was S$6.42 per GB of excess data, with the maximum data bill capped at S$64.20.

“The promotional data excess charge details were communicated to customers ever since we launched the plans in Sep 2012,” said a StarHub spokesman.