Consumers may soon pay double for excess data

A third of subscribers on tiered data plans.

More Singaporeans are making the switch to tiered data plans, which have contributed to postpaid ARPU accretions of 1-6% q-o-q for the telcos.

According to DMG Research, 30% of postpaid subscribers migrated to tiered plans in 2Q2013 vs 23% in 1Q2013 and 16%
in 4Q2012.

"We believe the adoption rate could well exceed 40% by end-2013 as more LTE devices flood the market and the usage of bandwidth intensive applications grows."

DMG Research notes that about 10-15% of tiered data users are also consuming in excess of their data caps, enabling the telcos to monetize data faster and boost ARPU from customers re-contracting on higher tiers.

According to the telcos, the average data consumption on the mobile network has increased to over 2GB per month currently from less than 1.6GB in 2Q2012. SingTel had earlier indicated that it will raise excess data charges for 3G/LTE from SGD5.35 per month to SGD10.70 effective 15 Sept.

"We expect StarHub to follow suit when the current additional 1GB data promotion on its regular tiered data plans ends in
September. In early August, StarHub introduced new tiered data plans (Smart Surf HD) offering unlimited voice and SMS with a SGD10.70/GB excess data charge," it said.