The creation of a pro-consumer and pro-business infocomm environment remained the key goal for IDA in its capacity as a regulator for the infocomm sector, as it formulated infocomm-related policies, standards, codes of practice and advisory guidelines.

Pro-consumers
From April 2012 onwards, IDA progressively raised the Quality of Service (QoS) standards for 3G mobile services to ensure a better consumer experience, especially in nationwide outdoor areas and in new road and Mass Rapid Transit tunnels. The QoS standard for in-building service coverage was also enhanced, and minimum standards were set for call success rates and drop call rates. ( Read )

IDA also put in place several measures to protect consumers from unwanted service charges. For example, it required mobile operators to introduce a service enabling consumers to bar Premium Rate Services, protecting consumers from unknowingly activating chargeable mobile content services and incurring high charges.

Another service was introduced to allow consumers to suspend data roaming service when their data roaming charges reached a maximum of S$100 every month. Mobile service operators also introduced ways to allow consumers to deactivate/reactivate data roaming services more easily before going overseas.

“A few years back when I was in China for a tour, I used the hand phone to surf the Internet. When I returned to Singapore and received the telephone bill, I was shocked to find that I had to pay a few hundred dollars for the data roaming service. The new IDA ruling will give me better control over the amount of money I spend on data roaming service when I go overseas. This is especially important to me as I travel frequently but at the same time wish to maintain contact with family members in Singapore.”

- Mr Peter Lai, retiree and avid travel photographer

On the sidelines of the closed-door Ministerial Forum on ICT in June, Singapore and Brunei Darussalam also announced a pledge to reduce mobile roaming rates in the two countries by the first quarter of 2013, for services such as voice calls, SMSes and data usage.

IDA also moved to facilitate consumers in making more informed choices when choosing a broadband plan. From April 2012, it required Internet Service Providers providing fixed and mobile broadband services to publish information on typical download speeds that consumers were likely to experience, on top of the theoretical maximum speeds that were more widely published.

“I agree that service providers should educate the public more on the typical download speeds consumers are likely to experience, on top of the theoretical maximum speeds. If they advertise, say, 1 Gbps and I am getting 900 Mbps, I am still ok. But the difference should not be too great.”

- Mr Ng Jun Da, IT project manager

To ensure that standards in basic letter delivery services remained relevant in the current environment, IDA fine-tuned its QoS framework for postal services from 1 July 2012, increasing the financial penalty for service provider Singapore Post Limited if they failed to comply with the QoS indicators. The move followed a review of the QoS framework for postal services in 2011. ( Read )

Pro-business
To help telecommunication service providers and equipment dealers streamline licensing and equipment registration processes and reduce business costs, IDA amended its regulatory requirements to permit the display of the compliance label on the equipment’s built-in display screen or in the softcopy of the equipment’s instruction manual, as an alternative to traditional sticker labels. The compliance label provides assurance to consumers at the point of purchase that the telecommunication equipment has been approved for use in Singapore. ( Read )

Sharing platforms
IDA has been active in sharing its regulatory experiences and contributing to international discussions on regulatory challenges and trends. In September, it conducted its 6th Telecom Regulatory Course which was attended by 26 participants from 13 countries. The executive programme on "Enabling Framework for ICT Development - The Singapore Experience" covered topics such as Singapore's overall policy, regulatory, and competition management framework, spectrum and resource management issues, telecom licensing framework, interconnection, and infrastructure sharing, as well as developments such as the Next Generation Nationwide Broadband Network. ( Read )

“I had been wondering how Singapore managed these issues for so long, and with so much success. Now I can get first-hand information directly from the people involved. The course has helped me understand IDA’s approach to regulation and fill in the gaps for many of the challenges that we are facing in the Uganda Communication Commission."

- Mrs Irene Kaggwa Sewankambo, Acting Assistant Director of Licensing & Standards at the Uganda Communications Commission, referring to issues relating to quality of service, licensing and the performance bond framework

IDA also co-hosted the International Institute of Communications’ (IIC) International Regulators Forum with the Media Development Authority (MDA). The regulators-only conference, which took place in October, brought together about 80 regulators from around the world to discuss telecom and media regulatory issues. It was held together with IIC’s 2012 Annual Conference, which explored the theme “Trends in Global Communications: Devising Digital Policies for Tomorrow’s Needs and Aspirations”.   Also supported by IDA and MDA, the conference was attended by about 200 members of the industry, researchers and government representatives. ( Read )