Most consumers are satisfied with telecommunication services in Singapore, a new survey by the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore's (IDA) has found.
Telecommunication service providers include those who provide fixed line telephone, mobile telephone, fixed broadband and mobile broadband services.
IDA polled 1,500 consumer on their satisfaction with telecom services provided in Singapore. On scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being the best score, all services were ranked above 3.5 for "quality of service", "price competitiveness of the service offerings" and "variety of services".
The authority conducts the Consumer Awareness and Satisfaction Survey (CASS) with the aim of measuring and tracking shifts in the perception of selected telecommunication services in Singapore. In its fifth year, the CASS was conducted door-to-door between December 2013 and March 2014.
Local consumers were asked about their awareness, as well as subscription and usage patterns, of the telecommunication services. They were also surveyed on their satisfaction with the services used.
Consumers displayed a high level of awareness regarding the terms and fees of telecom services in Singapore. In terms of awareness of early termination charges, about 94 per cent of subscribers to mobile telephone services, 80 per cent of subscribers to fixed broadband services and 94 per cent of subscribers to mobile broadband services were aware.
Awareness of the terms and conditions imposed on mobile data roaming was also high. About 69 per cent of mobile broadband subscribers were aware of international mobile roaming charges, while 82 per cent of mobile broadband subscribers were aware of their local data usage bill cap. A large majority of 62 per cent were also aware of the amount they would be charged for excess data usage on their mobile broadband plan. A significant proportion of overall respondents were also aware that they could disable international data roaming (90 per cent) and activate a data roaming cap (72 per cent).
Only 8 per cent of respondents said they used a payphone in the preceding six months. More than half of respondents also had the opinion that payphones were no longer a necessity, with 88 per cent of respondents with this opinion citing that they "already subscribed to a mobile phone".
In terms of customer care provided by the three major telecom companies, respondents were generally less satisfied with "hotline waiting time" as compared to other aspects such as the "time taken to resolve complaints" and the "competency of customer service officer". About 33 per cent of respondents also suggested that service providers should look into reducing "hotline waiting times". Nonetheless, consumers acknowledged that hotline waiting times for all three major telecom service providers actually improved since 2010.
Mr Leong Keng Thai, IDA's Deputy Chief Executive and Director General (Telecoms and Post), said, "Service providers should continue to place emphasis on customer engagement and servicing as one of the key retention strategies. Service providers should look beyond traditional customer service solutions such as telephone hotlines and be innovative, such as using live chat software solutions, to shorten waiting time and boost customer satisfaction."
Source: http://business.asiaone.com/news/most-consumers-satisfied-telecom-services-singapore-survey
