There was a decision made on July 28, 2010 to commit 2 year contract of Starhub, the Internet services offering through cable system! Indeed, to many people surprises, IT people indeed are more loyal customer and do less switching from service provider, provided that the services are reaching certain expectation.
With the home pack deal, I had finally committed to a contract with Starhub! indeed, the main attraction to me is the mobile Internet with so-call unlimited 1M max downloading speed included without additional charge. Which is a perfect solution for my iPad (without 3G option), together with my Nokia E71 phone. I feel that this combination is a much better option than using iPad with 3G option, which I shall share my thought separately.
I also cut down the cable TV channels to fit into the package, not only cost issue but also those channels are seldom watched. Indeed, if I were starhub, I shall provide a service to show the user about their watching habit! I bet that they did collect such information for internal analysis purpose as well as using this data to show to the AD agencies!
And the package came with the VoIP fixed line, and able to retain my existing fixed line number from singtel. Nevertheless, the switch over could be schedule on Aug 13 due to overwhelming response?! I bet it’s hurting singtel if it is the case! I am paying some S$56 per quarter with almost no usage! Basically, the phone was just a standby mode and seldom used except for kids calling kids and some oversea relative when they were not able to reach us over our handphones. Since Starhub package included the VoIP fixed line services, and VoIP is very mature technology (and commoditized)… More importantly, I am no longer concern any 99.995% reliability at all for home as we have plenty of handphones as alternatives.
Singtel did complete her job on time on Aug 13. Nevertheless, starhub was not! Indeed, it still does not work as of I am writing this BLOG. And the reason given by the customer service agent – they are upgrading their system which caused delay. Worst
1. I was on hold for more than 25 minutes on Aug 13 evening before I could speak with the representative
2. The representative told me that I won’t have my phone service resumed by next 2 days
3. And, it did not mean that I would have the services afterwards, just told me that I definitely wouldn’t have the service in 2 days time!
The customer representative promised to update me on Sunday, which he did call but provided no further useful information! He called and said, sorry sir, your phone service would not be working for other few days but we could not tell you when you would have the service available!
Although the fix lines unavailability seems not affecting much. The problem indeed could be very serious as the caller did not know what had happened! In order word, the damage could be severe, while I just don’t know that happens!
I hope that my phone service will be resumed very soon… Or else, I probably should write other open letter again to the CEO and COO of Starhub.
Indeed, there were more area of improvements Starhub could offer better services… Unfortunately, the market in Singapore was semi-open/semi-closed and lack of serious competition.. Perhaps more value-added service provider should allow to be operate in Singapore in order to enhance the service quality.
