Debated in Parliament on 11 May 2015.
Mr Baey Yam Keng asked the Minister for Communications and Information in light of SMRT's announcement that it will work with OMGTel to bid for Singapore's fourth wireless telecommunications carrier licence, how does the Ministry ensure that high telecommunication service standards are maintained if the partners of the licence do not have proven track records.
Mdm Speaker, the Infocomm Development Authority (IDA) issued a public consultation in April last year seeking views from the industry on potential interest to enter Singapore's mobile market. A new entrant would further spur competition in the mobile market, benefiting consumers through more attractive pricing and innovative services.
Should a new mobile operator be interested to enter the Singapore market, they will need to take part in a spectrum auction. IDA has yet to determine the rules for the next spectrum auction. Nonetheless, in previous auctions, IDA has stipulated qualifying criteria, which include the requirement for applicants to have strong technical capabilities and financial positions. This is to ensure that only serious and capable players participate in the spectrum auction. Any new mobile operator will also have to comply with IDA's regulatory obligations, including its Quality of Service frameworks.
Mr Baey Yam Keng.
I thank the Minister for the answer. I would like to ask: going back to the time when the Singapore telecoms industry was liberalised, the partners in M1 and StarHub did not necessarily have technical backgrounds in the telecoms sector. So, does the same rule apply then and now, in this new licence? I would appreciate it if the Minister could shed more light on this.
Madam, we have to see how the market has evolved and the experience that we have gained. For example, when we invited new entrants for the
Page: 29
4G spectrum auction, we had a prequalification phase where we ask the participants to declare their capital structure, financial proposal, technical capabilities and the proposed 4G systems and services, amongst others. Through these criteria, we prequalified them and then invited those prequalified to tender for the spectrum. We are likely to put in similar criteria for the next spectrum auction.
Mr Zaqy Mohamad.
I just want to ask a couple of questions. One, for evaluation, what is the weightage we place on the tender price as well as the innovations that we can expect from such bidders? The bidding should not just be based on price considerations, I suppose, because that would also increase the price. With increased competition, what is the Ministry's long-term strategy to enhance the telecom users' experience here in Singapore?
That is exactly the intention, Mdm Speaker. We do have a variety of criteria. I am not at liberty to declare the weightage that our regulators will use to decide. But certainly, we will take into account not only pricing but also the ability to innovate.
To the Member's second point, clearly, we believe that there is space for a fourth telecoms company (telco). But we do not want just another telco. We want a telco that can bring innovation to the market and therefore, cause the existing incumbents to also innovate. We want to spur competition. Certainly, we will bear all these factors in mind to ensure that it will spur growth to benefit consumers.
Mr Cristopher de Souza.
I think there might be a Question No 10 before my question, Mdm Speaker.
My apologies. Mr Baey Yam Keng.
PAPERCUTS