Phone Lines: Starhub vs. SingTel 

Just throwing my two cents worth into this latest land line tussle. For those who are not in Singapore or are living under a rock, SingTel just raised their land line fees and Starhub replied with offering free land lines to their cable and Maxonline subscribers. Starhub, very smart!!

Anyhoo, I’ve been studying this for a while, debating with my brother whether or not to switch over, since we can keep our number. Free is ALWAYS good. After researching, here are my conclusions.

The Starhub land line works differently from the SingTel land line. SingTel uses actual copper wires running underground to transmit the calls. Starhub uses the cable/internet modem to transmit calls. This means that should the electricity blackout, the Starhub land line won’t work as the modem needs electricity to run. Also, in times of emergency (like war), SingTel runs on a different infrastructure, so should the cell phone and cable die, the land line should still work.

But besides those reasons (I mean, what are the chances of war in Singapore. Also, Singapore’s electricity is pretty reliable), I’m leaning towards switching over to Starhub. It’s free. There is a 6 months min. contract, but than, if I’m going to keep using my Starhub internet and TV, it should be no problem.

Also, I’ve read pretty good feedback on their service and how it’s reliable and worth it. Another good thing I discovered is that if I move house, I’ll just need to set up my internet/tv modem and viola, the phone line is set up too.

Right now, there is a waiting time to port over numbers from SingTel to Starhub because of the high demand and the daily limit. On Sunday, Starhub told me the next port over date will be in Jan, if I apply now.

I’ll need to change my home phone to a digital phone, but there are tons in the market now and not too expensive. I think can find those under $100 in Carrefour, if i remember correctly. *Note: I’ve since discovered that you can still use your normal phone. So more $$ saving!

However, with the Starhub land line, you can’t connect multiple phones in different rooms to the main connection. Unlike now with SingTel where you can just plug in phones in different rooms as long as you have the phone plug. The way to do it with the Starhub land line is to get additional receivers. (Kinda like having a bluetooth handset with the cell phone).

And from what I know, there’s no catch. Starhub doesn’t actually lose any $$ from these free lines, because it’s the same system they already have. it’s more of a chance for them to undermine SingTel and steal customers.

Just my opinions from research I’ve done.

Related posts:

1. Update on Starhub battle
2. Oh G1! Where Art Thou G1?