MyRepublic promises standard 10GB plans, net neutrality if it becomes Singapore’s 4th telco

L-R: MyRepublic founders Malcolm Rodriguez, KC Lai, Gret Mittman

MyRepublic, one of Singapore’s newest broadband providers, has revealed more details about its bid to become the country’s fourth telco.

It promises 10GB data bundles as the standard, much larger than the 2GB or 3GB other telcos offer. It will even offer the option for unlimited data bundles. It promises to follow net neutrality, and will not have additional toll charges for popular internet apps. That’s unlike Singapore’s largest telco SingTel, who believes it has the right to get internet services to pay for using its bandwidth.

MyRepublic is building a consortium to push forward with its proposal, and is finding local and foreign partners. The regulatory approval and mobile spectrum bidding process is long though, and it believes it can offer consumers mobile products by the end of 2016, if its effort is successful.

Negotiations are already underway with the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore, who is also talking to several other players who are interested to become a telco.

To achieve it plan of offering consumers more data, it will roll out smaller cell sites in an area where telcos would traditionally put a single large cell tower.

As a combined entity, these small cells allow more connections to take place than a single large device. Deploying small cells is also much easier since they’re unobtrusive and can be placed even in a coffeeshop, claims MyRepublic CEO Malcolm Rodrigues.

Singapore ready for a fourth telco

While some doubt if Singapore’s small market of six million people can support another player aside from SingTel, StarHub, and M1, MyRepublic managing director Yong Teck Yap believes it can, due to the high average revenue per user (ARPU) and profits made by current telcos. Yet mobile surfing speeds still lag behind some of the most developed countries.

“In Singapore today, the average mobile data speeds is about 4.3Mbps. This pales in comparison to South Korea, which ranks number one at 15.2Mbps. I’d like to stress that this is the average mobile surfing speed, and not the peak, which is what many telcos stress,” says Yap.

This is not the first time MyRepublic has declared its intentions. In June of last year, it unveiled a paper submitted to the Singapore government to press the case on why it should be the fourth telco. Among its plans is a 4G mobile plan with supposedly unlimited data, a concept unheard of in Singapore.

It’s also bidding to participate in the government’s trial run of a HetNet in the island-state, which allows users to stay connected to the internet while seamlessly switching between, say, wifi and mobile networks. If it succeeds, it could offer mobile services in the Jurong Lake District.

The startup has expanded rapidly since it was founded three years ago. It rocketed into New Zealand and launched its broadband services there. It has 30,000 broadband subscribers and an annualized revenue of S$28 million (US$20 million), up from S$10 million and S$2 million the year before.

It’s also one of the most well-funded private internet companies in Singapore, having raised US$37.5 million to date, according to Techlist data.