Simba Telecom Explained

Type:Private
Industry:Telecommunications
Location:1 Kaki Bukit View, Techview, Singapore 415941
Area Served:Singapore
Key People:David Teoh (Executive Chairman)[1]
Products:Mobile Services
Fibre Broadband
Revenue:S$57.4 million (Sept 2022)[2]
Num Employees:Approx. 100

SIMBA Telecom Pte Ltd, formerly known as TPG Singapore, is a Singaporean telecommunications company and one of four major telecommunication company operating in the country.

TPG Singapore was founded in 2016 by Australian businessman David Teoh after winning an auction from Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) for its airwaves rights. It was a subsidiary of TPG Telecom Australia, an Australian telecommunications company founded by Teoh.

In 2020, the merger of TPG Australia with Vodafone Hutchison Australia to form TPG Telecom resulted in TPG Singapore splitting up from its Australian counterpart. As a result, TPG Singapore operated under the newly established and Australian-listed Tuas Ltd, also founded by Teoh, independently of the merged TPG Telecom entity. In 2022, TPG Singapore was rebranded to SIMBA Telecom after the usage rights to TPG brand expired.

History

2016–2019: Founding as TPG Singapore

On 14 December 2016, it was announced that TPG had secured the fourth telecommunications license in Singapore for S$105 million (A$122 million).[3] The reserve price was only S$35 million, and TPG Singapore paid three times the minimum that was asked for by the Singapore authorities.[4] [5] [6]

They were provisionally allocated 60 MHz of spectrum made available in the New Entrant Spectrum Auction (NESA), with spectrum rights that commenced in April 2017. TPG was also expected to provide street level coverage nationwide within 18 months of the start date.[7]

On 21 December 2018, a call for 20,000 participants in a year-long trial was put out,[8] with another call for participants made in March 2019 while delaying the launch of the network to 2020.[9]

For voice communications, it makes use of Voice over LTE technology which saw subscribers have initial troubles setting up during the trial rollout at the start of 2019 as existing phones did not contain the configuration profile required for the VoLTE functionality to work.[10] These was largely resolved when the major brands added the configuration profile into their operating systems, with Apple adding the profile only in September 2019.[11]

In July 2019, a study by Opensignal found that TPG Singapore had slower network speeds and poorer connectivity than the established rival telcos.[12]

2020–present: Post merger of TPG Australia and Vodafone and rebrand to SIMBA

See also: TPG (Internet service provider). TPG launched commercial service in March 2020.[13]

Tuas Limited was incorporated in Australia on 11 March 2020 in anticipation of the demerger of the Singapore operations of TPG Telecom Limited (subsequently renamed to TPG Corporation Limited) resulting from the merger between TPG Telecom and Vodafone Hutchison Australia.[14] That merger attained final court approval on 26 June 2020 with the demerger of TPG Singapore becoming effective and under whose terms Tuas Limited has the rights to use the TPG brand in Singapore until June 2022.[15] [16]

In November 2021, Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) [17] [18] announced that the telco has won the rights to the 2.1 GHz spectrum of 5G network and services and is provisionally awarded[19] two lots of 5 MHz of the spectrum. With accordance to IMDA, TPG Singapore would have the right to provide 5G network services, starting 1 January 2022. As part of the regulatory process, TPG Singapore has to roll out the 5G network islandwide by the end of 2026.

In April 2022, TPG Singapore was rebranded to SIMBA Telecom after the end of its 2 years' usage rights to use the TPG brand.[20] [21]

In March 2023, it was announced that SIMBA will be entering the internet service provider (ISP) market in Singapore, offering the first 2.5Gbit/s broadband service. It will be leveraging the existing network infrastructure in Singapore.[22]

Simba has 819k subscribers as at June 2023.

Network

Frequencies used on SIMBA Network in Singapore
Band Frequency Frequency Width
(MHz)
Protocol Notes
8 (900 MHz) (895~905; 940~950) 2x10
1 (2100 MHz) (1920~1930; 2110~2120) 2x10
40 (2.3 GHz) 2300~2340 40
38 (2600 MHz) 2570~2580 10

Notes and References

  1. Web site: TUAS - Building Better Connections. tuas.com.au.
  2. https://tuas.com.au/pdf/Tuas-Ltd-FY22-Investor-Presentation_For-ASX-Release.pdf
  3. Web site: Australia's TPG wins battle for fourth telco licence in Singapore . 2019-08-07 . TODAYonline.
  4. Web site: TPG outbids MyRepublic to snag Singapore's fourth telco license. ZDNet.
  5. Web site: TPG more likely to outbid MyRepublic in the 4th telco race. sg.finance.yahoo.com. 9 December 2016 .
  6. Web site: Australia's TPG wins battle for fourth telco licence in Singapore. TODAY.
  7. Web site: Ting . Lisabel . 14 December 2016 . TPG Telecom wins rights to be Singapore's fourth telco . 6 June 2019 . The Straits Times.
  8. Web site: Hariz Baharudin . 2018-12-21 . Free mobile service trial from Singapore's 4th telco TPG from next year The Straits Times . 2023-01-21 . www.straitstimes.com . en.
  9. Web site: Salim . Zafirah . 2019-12-31 . S'pore's 4th Telco TPG Extends Its Free 4G Mobile Trial, Delays Commercial Launch To 2020 . 2023-01-21 . Vulcan Post . en-US.
  10. Web site: 'Fittest will survive': Singapore's 4th telco TPG confident of thriving amid growing competition . 2022-04-06 . CNA . en.
  11. Web site: TPG VoLTE is finally supported on iPhone for making voice calls over LTE – OCWorkbench . 2022-04-06 . en-US.
  12. Web site: Wong . Lester . 2019-07-12 . Fourth telco TPG confident of improving service after study shows it has slower speeds, poorer signal than rivals The Straits Times . 2023-01-21 . www.straitstimes.com . en.
  13. Web site: Wong . Lester . 2020-03-31 . TPG rolls out $10-for-50GB plan as it launches commercial services in Singapore The Straits Times . 2023-01-21 . www.straitstimes.com . en.
  14. Web site: TPG and Vodafone Australia to merge into AU$15b telco named TPG . ZDNet.
  15. Web site: MarketScreener . TPG Corporation Limited completed the spin-off of Tuas Limited. MarketScreener . 2022-07-23 . www.marketscreener.com . 30 June 2020 . en.
  16. Web site: Vodafone Australia and TPG merger: Everything you need to know . 2023-01-21 . ZDNET . en.
  17. Web site: 2.1 GHZ SPECTRUM RIGHT (2022) GRANTED BY THE INFO-COMMUNICATIONS MEDIA DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY UNDER REGULATION 6 OF THE TELECOMMUNICATIONS (RADIOCOMMUNICATION) REGULATIONS TO TPG TELECOM PTE LTD ON 1 JANUARY 2022 .
  18. Web site: S'pore telcos, TPG provisionally awarded 2.1GHz spectrum rights for 5G networks | The Straits Times. Hermes. Auto. 26 November 2021. www.straitstimes.com.
  19. Web site: Ng . Kelly . 26 November 2021 . Singtel, M1-StarHub tie-up, and TPG provisionally awarded 2.1 GHz spectrum rights for 5G networks . 2023-01-22 . www.businesstimes.com.sg.
  20. https://simba.sg/static/media/[Press%20Release%20TPG%20Singapore%20celebrates%202nd%20anniversary%20with%20half%20a%20million%20sign-ups%20milestone,%20announces%20rebranding%20initiative.93ece3cd.pdf TPG Singapore celebrates 2nd anniversary with half a million sign-ups milestone, announces rebranding initiative ]. 4 April 2022 . Singapore.
  21. Web site: Goodbye TPG. Hello to SIMBA Telecom! . www.hardwarezone.com.sg.
  22. Tuas Limited Half Year Financial Year 2023 Results . 23 March 2023 . Singapore.