SINGAPORE : Singapore Telecoms has joined hands with six other Asian telcos to form a unified regional mobile network.
The Bridge Mobile Alliance will be equally owned by SingTel, its Australian unit Optus, India's Bharti, Globe Telecom in the Philippines, Malayisa's Maxis, Taiwan Cellular and Telkomsel in Indonesia.
The joint venture has a combined base of over 56 million subscribers, making it the largest in the Asia Pacific.
Based in Singapore, Bridge Mobile will invest US$30 million to US$40 million in regional mobile phone technology over the next three years.
Mobile operators in Asia are pretty much home based, so the moment their customers start to roam across borders, inconsistency in services emerge.
Apart from voice roaming, customers are handicapped especially when it comes to data services.
So these seven mobile operators have decided to join hands in overcoming these challenges.
Together, they can reach more than 300 million subscribers.
Said Lim Chuan Poh, chief executive at SingTel Mobile, "We believe that by collecting operators across the region and making it a seamless service and delivering via a central platform, it will not only give rise to this seamlessness but also allow us to achieve services at a very much cost-effective manner."
Bridge Mobile will also develop new products and services on a regional basis.
Mobile users will no longer roam blindly when they are abroad.
Bridge Mobile will ensure that they automatically roam into one of the other partners' networks, thereby ensuring service consistency.
One service that customers can expect from Bridge Mobile is the convenience of topping up their pre-paid cards when they travel overseas.
Another possible service is remittance via SMS. Customers can simply show their SMS to the banks or remittance companies to withdraw their money.
Bridge Mobile says it will be self-sustaining so shareholders need not invest additional cash.
It is also looking to have another four mobile operators on board.
Thailand's AIS has already indicated its intention to join the alliance.
SingTel Mobile's Lim said, "We expect that beyond the seven joint venture shareholders today, there will be more shareholders and also members who may include non-mobile operators. It could be technology partners or other service providers other than mobile operators."
Bridge Mobile will be operational by the first quarter of next year.
It expects to be financially positive within three years and plans to go public in the future. - CNA