SingTel fined record S$6 million for Bukit Panjang fire

SINGAPORE — The Infocomm Development Authority (IDA) has meted out a record S$6 million fine to SingTel.

This follows the results of an investigation into the fire that broke out at a SingTel Bukit Panjang facility last year, causing a breakdown of mobile and broadband services to hundreds of thousands of subscribers.

Announcing the findings of the investigation this evening (May 6), the regulator found that besides SingTel, OpenNet, which rolls out the highspeed nationwide broadband network, and CityNet, which owns OpenNet, have been found culpable as well. The IDA said all three “have not fulfilled their respective obligations”. To that end, the IDA is fining CityNet $300,000, and OpenNet $200,000.

The fines will go to the digital inclusion fund.

While SingTel was culpable as its carrying out of hot works with a lack of proper supervision was found to have caused the fire, the IDA also found “procedural lapses” on the part of CityNet, which legally owns the Bukit Panjang exchange. For instance, it approved SingTel’s application to carry out hot works although it was incomplete.

As for OpenNet, said the IDA, it could have expedited the service restoration and recovery process, although it was not a direct contributor to the cause of the incident.

SingTel has said that it accepts the findings of the investigation by the IDA, and the financial penalty imposed, adding that it apologises for the inconvenience caused to businesses and customers.

“We have learnt from this incident,” said Ms Chua Sock Koong, SingTel Group Chief Executive. “We will implement the recommendations identified by the BCOI and continually benchmark our operations against international best practices.”

IMPROVEMENTS IN PROGRESS

SingTel has proposed measures to address its shortcomings, such as by replacing duct seals in exchanges that will eliminate the need for hot works. This will be completed by July. The telco also aims to enhance fire safety measures and install automatic fire suppression systems within cable chambers in all its exchanges.

Employees will also be regularly trained and assessed on workplace safety, while SingTel facilities will be enhanced with more CCTV cameras.

CityNet says it will improve procedural controls, such as improving the monitoring of maintenance works in its exchanges and enhancing fire prevention, detection and protection measures. OpenNet will enhance its business continuity management, and work together with other operators as part of the IDA’s direction.

The IDA says it will monitor the implementation of improvement measures.

Meanwhile, it has also started on a review of the resilience of all the important parts of Singapore’s infocomm infrastructure, which will be completed in the second half of this year. This aims to help identify any other potential weaknesses in critical networks, as well as minimise the risk of widespread service disruptions.

The IDA is also working with the industry to put in place a set of operating procedures to improve inter-operator communication and coordination during major service disruptions. This coordination will be reviewed by the IDA from time to time.

“This is a very serious service outage of a magnitude that is unprecedented, but more importantly, that could have been avoided,” said Mr Leong Keng Thai, IDA’s Deputy Chief Executive and Director-General (Telecoms and Post) in a statement.

He said: “With increasing dependency of businesses and consumers on telecommunications, a strong signal must be sent to telecommunication operators that they must take network resilience very seriously, and invest in necessary infrastructure, processes and training to prevent and minimise service outages. IDA will closely monitor the operators’ undertaking of the corrective measures and ensure that they are implemented.”