Should I sign up for TPG S$10 for 50GB data?

TPG's Offer

After 1.5 years of offering free mobile service, TPG has decided to charge for its mobile service and throw in a whopping 50GB of mobile data with 300 call out minutes and 10 SMS.

The financial industry is skeptical about the offer. If all 400,000 subscribers signed up, it will only contribute $48m yearly revenue if everyone sign up.  The setup cost of 4G infrastructure is estimated at $160m with a running yearly cost of $1.6m.  TPG is likely to charge more to capture more market shares and boost its revenue.

Is $10 for 50GB worth it?

The picture below depicts what are the choices that current consumers have.

The X-axis is the GB of Mobile Data (The bigger the better)

The Y-axis is the Cost of the Plan (The smaller the better)

The size of the circle depicts the call out minutes (The bigger the better)

So, plans located at the bottom right are the BEST plans.  And there is only 1.

It is the TPG plan which offers 50GB at $10.

At the same cost, the closest competitor is MyRepublic with 6GB of mobile data.

At the same GB, the closest competitor is Gomo's offer at $30.

TPG sets a new standard for value of market in Singapore for postpaid services.

What are the shortcomings of signing up?

1. 4G Phones: TPG provides ONLY 4G network so customer needs a 4G phone to use the service. In fact, the 4G phone must be LTE FDD supporting either 900MHz or 2300MHz.
2. Call out: For calling out, only certain phones with VOLTE+ are supported.  Else, customers must download TPG app for call out.  Well, you can use whatsapp to leave voice message or voice out since you have 50GB.
   
3. Support: There is only one office in Orchard and the alternative avenue of support is by email.
   
4. Network coverage: The biggest drawback is network limitation as TPG is a new network provider and they must lay out 4G network from scratch.  Underground carpark and MRT tunnels are blind spots with no network.  Sometimes, those staying or working at high floors (>30 floors) may not receive any network coverage.  These are not the target segments TPG is going after.

The BEST plan in the market and not for long...

From the chart above, this is the BEST plan in Singapore postpaid sim-only market. None of the competitors (including MVNOs) can match this offer.  So, it is safe to guess that TPG will likely increase the costs of the plan after 31 May 2020 to boost its revenue for profits. This is the same as the free 30 minutes plan offered by Circles.Life to boost its customer base.  Upon reaching its target, Circles.Life terminated the free plan.  We can expect the same execution from TPG.

So what are you waiting for? Go and grab the plan now from TPG online or visit their office:

Address: Orchard Central (181 Orchard Road, #04-28 Orchard Central, Singapore 238896)

Operating Hours: 11.00 am to 9.00 pm

And before I forgot, there is a bonus 1GB of roaming data in Indonesia, India and Philippines.  Sign up early before the offer is gone.  I seriously doubt there will be another Telco coming into Singapore in the next 5 years.

Top 10 reasons why you should not buy flagship phone in Singapore

Why chasing after flagship phones?

Many are chasing the latest iPhone X or Pixel 2 XL which will be launching soon in end 2017. The local telcos are also rushing to come out with phone plans using the old models to lock their loyal customers for another 1-2 years. Little do the customers know that this old business model is silly and no longer apply to this new world of technology.

Reason 1: Warranty of Phone is only 12 months but contract is 24 months

The warranty of most of the phones are 12 months but the contract is 24 months.  This implies that the high-end phone has no warranty on the 13th month onwards.  Most of the electronic parts seldom break down in the first 12 months and that's why manufacturer are committed to service their phone within the first 12 months.  Why should you sign a 24-month contract to buy a 12-month warranty phone?

Reason 2: Premium phone is sold at a premium during launch

All phones are sold at the highest point to capture the trend setters who buy the story of the manufacturer. After 3-6 months, discounts will be available for the phone and prices will gradually decrease over time.  Why should you buy the phone at the highest point? To support the manufacturer and show off to your friends?

Reason 3: There is no room for discount for a low monthly plan

If you are paying below S$45/month for your phone bill, there is no benefit of getting a high-end phone. The maximum subsidy you enjoy is only S$200 but you must fork out over S$1000 up front. The lowest tier does not enjoy any benefits and are always the last group of customers that the telco serviced.

Reason 4: Use up monthly data in less than 2 seconds!

For high-end phone, they are capable of delivery bullet speed data.  Pixel 2 XL is a CAT 11 4G LTE beast capable of transferring 500Mbps across Singapore.  Given 100MB of data per month under Singtel COMBO 1 plan, you can use up your monthly allocated data in 1.6 seconds. Even if you are having the COMBO 12 plan (S$239.90/month), you only take up 192 seconds or 3.2 minutes to consume your 12GB monthly quota. This sucks!

Reason 5: Features you seldom use

New phones come with many features like NFC, 4k video recording, Face ID, iBeacon micro location, 2.5D, iWatch app and many others which you seldom use. Why pay so much more for something you use once in a while?

Reason 6: Small battery size

The irony of small form factor (<3000mah 2="" a="" about="" after="" and="" bank="" battery="" big="" bigger="" buy="" continue="" day="" div="" for="" forget="" get="" half="" has="" hours.="" hrs="" in="" is="" just="" last="" nbsp="" need="" not="" of="" or="" order="" phone="" power="" recharge="" remaining="" sell="" small="" sufficient="" the="" to="" when="" which="" why="" work="" working="" you="" your="">

Reason 7: High repair costs

Many of the new phones have double sided glass for premium aesthetic look and feel. They are easily contaminated with fingerprints and once it is cracked, the costs of repair can cost up to S$500 since you need to replace glasses on both sides of the phone.

Reason 8: Electronic parts have lifetime

Smartphones are electronic products which are made up with active and passive components. Active and passive products have a lifetime and once their lifetime is up, they will no longer function as required. The design of the phone is also important in determining its product lifetime.  It is a miracle for these designs to last more than 10 years. So it is unwise to buy a high end phone.

Reason 9: Battery cannot last more than 5 years

Most batteries depreciate after extensive use and the lifetime of battery cannot last more than 5 years.  If the design of the battery compartment is small with no allowance for expansion due to heat or pressure, explosion incidents may happen similar to Samsung Note 7.

Reason 10: The next flagship product will be launched tomorrow

There is no end in chasing flagship product.  The moment you buy the current flagship, it will depreciate 10% to 20% on the same day and the next flagship product will be launched tomorrow. Remember: Technology travels fast.