Wait for fibre broadband sparks frustration
On paper, subscribers to Singapore's new ultra-fast fibre optics broadband network were given a maximum 6-day wait for the installation. But in reality, they find themselves waiting up to six weeks to get connected, sparking frustration among consumers and infrastructure operator OpenNet, which could only perform 2,050 residential and business installations per week.
The quota was "part of the winning bid by OpenNet", according to telecommunications regulator Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA), and it remains unchanged despite a three-fold increase in sign-up rates during the recent June PC Show. The sudden surge in demand has put a strain on the supply chain, which then caused a backlog, with new orders being pushed to a much later date.
Business manager Darren Chia, 45, is one enraged customers who purchased a fibre broadband package from SingTel during the PC Show, which ran from June 9-12. However, he only managed to arrange an appointment with OpenNet last week after receiving repeated rejections by the company because it could not keep up with the spike in orders.
"I'm utterly disappointed with the prolonged delay, and I hope both OpenNet and IDA can work out a solution to uphold their promise of the 6-day wait," he told Yahoo! Singapore.
While Internet Service Providers (ISPs) such as SingTel, StarHub and M1 can discuss terms with OpenNet separately to raise capacity and that ongoing negotiations have begun, the ISPs have urged for a review of the 2,050-a-week quota -- saying it is currently too low to meet rising demand from consumers.
ISPs and Nucleus Connect -- the operating company here selling fibre broadband to ISPs -- expect a prompt action from IDA, as the next major technology fair, Comex, which starts on September 1, draws closer.
Mr David Storrie, chief executive of Nucleus Connect, claimed that the 2,050 quota is unacceptable, and added that his company received over 6,000 orders for fibre broadband from ISPs during the June PC Show.
"We are deeply concerned that our ISP customers and end-users are increasingly unhappy over the slow pace of service delivery," he told The Straits Times.
"We estimate that at this rate, it is going to take Singapore more than 10 years before all households and businesses can be connected to the fibre network, which runs contrary to the government's intent."
IDA is currently looking into the matter, but does not guarantee that the quota would be raised to fulfill orders during peak periods, citing concerns that surplus resources will be wasted when demand slows to "steady state" levels.
Meanwhile, OpenNet said it is trying its best to increase efficiency and clear the backlog as quickly as possible to reduce the waiting time for new customers.
"While the installation requests from the June PC Show have been largely fulfilled, OpenNet is working with its industry partners to find solutions such as increasing the workforce to meet this increase in demand, as well as peaks in demand during major PC shows and events," said its project manager, Mr Tiong Onn Seng.
OpenNet is a joint venture among four partners —- Axia, SingTel, Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) and Singapore Power Telecommunications (SPT).
Correction: The second paragraph was corrected to say that the quota was part of a winning bid by OpenNet rather than something set by the IDA.
