A little whisper in the dark

The Big M1-Singtel-Starhub choice

I got my first mobile phone back in 1999, while serving national service. The monthly allowance that I had meant that I had a little to spare for buying my first phone, a Nokia 6110, and paying the monthly subscription. Maybe it was because it kept me entertained on those long nights I had guard duty, playing Snake and sending text messages to the then-gf. Oddly enough, it didn't get used as a phone very much.

Mobile phone plans in Singapore tend to give you a certain amount of free texts and free minutes for a fixed amount you pay every month. Thereafter you pay at a certain rate per SMS, or per minute. Like the hamsters that I used to keep, I tend to hoard minutes, and use text messages first - but its quite a habit. Pretty soon you begin to have annoying text message conversations which a simple 1 minute phone call could have resolved......

From the Nokia 6110, I went to a Siemens S45 (which promptly broke the month its warranty expired), so I went back to a cheap Nokia 3310, before taking over my dad's 8310 (which had more slots for phone numbers - work purposes). And the 8310 is what I've brought to Australia, and been using here.

For students, mobile phone plans here are a no-brainer, get the Yes Optus prepaid card, choose the 300-minute free Optus-to-Optus plan, thank you, there you go. Expenses once again are a motivation in changing phone habits - now I tend to call more and text less. Oh, and here, you don't have to pay for incoming mobile phone calls with any provider. People don't like to call other people. Sometimes they would give a missed call and try to wait you out to call back (usually don't care, and wait them out. That doesn't mean I give people missed calls either).

So on the eve of going back home, I'm doing my research on mobile phones and service providers again, as I am pretty sure my old M1 number has lapsed. While I have constantly said that the 8310 does all I need of it as a phone (ie, make phone calls), I must admit I have been seduced by the all-singing-all-dancing-do-everything crop of current phones that are a digital camera, mp3 and video player, internet browser, and maybe it will even feed your pet cat.

I visit to some mobile phone forums, to get some idea on what talk is currently being talked, on phones, as well as mobile plans; it was quite unexpected that the conversation was more focused on how best to extract freebies from service providers than the actual difference between the service plans being offered.

I guess it all started with one company extending sweeteners to induce a customer to stay with them instead of "jumping".

A thought pops into my mind, you might have come across this sign in nature reserves and parks:

"Please do not feed the wild animals"

How many of us, seeing that the poor (for example) monkey is so small and fragile, feed it with some leftover picnic food bits, but pretty soon, the monkey figures out that humans are a source of food, and after a bit, if acting pitiful and hungry doesn't work, maybe running in and grabbing would.

M1, Singtel, and Starhub are three humans feeding a whole horde of monkeys that have figured out simply threatening to change providers would be an easy way to get discounted service plans, freebies, or cash vouchers to be put toward getting a new phone to show off to their friends.

But well, all is not lost, for the talk is about how it is getting increasingly hard to extract goodies already. I'm not against healthy competition driving service plan prices down, but I am against petty greed that is obvious in these monkeys.

I mean, if you can afford to blow $800 on the latest phone every half year or so, what's a $200 voucher, or $10 off your monthly mobile phone bill?

posted by Chung Leong @ 12:53 AM