Singapore Telecommunications Limited, commonly known as Singtel, is a Singaporean
telecommunications
Telecommunication is the transmission of information by various types of technologies over wire, radio, optical, or other electromagnetic systems. It has its origin in the desire of humans for communication over a distance greater than that fe ...
conglomerate and one of the four major telcos operating in the country. The company is the
largest mobile network operator in Singapore with 4.1 million subscribers and through subsidiaries, has a combined mobile subscriber base of 640 million customers at the end of financial year 2017.
The company was known as Telecommunications Equipment until 1995. Singtel provides
ISP
An Internet service provider (ISP) is an organization that provides services for accessing, using, or participating in the Internet. ISPs can be organized in various forms, such as commercial, community-owned, non-profit, or otherwise private ...
,
IPTV
Internet Protocol television (IPTV) is the delivery of television content over Internet Protocol (IP) networks. This is in contrast to delivery through traditional terrestrial, satellite, and cable television formats. Unlike downloaded media, ...
(
Singtel TV
Singtel TV (formerly known as Singtel IPTV and mio TV) is a pay television service provided by Singtel in Singapore. It is transmitted through Singtel's broadband network via an IPTV platform which uses Ericsson Mediaroom (originally develope ...
) and mobile phone networks and fixed line telephony services.
Singtel has expanded aggressively outside its home market and owns shares in many regional operators, including full ownership of
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
's second largest telco
Optus
Singtel Optus Pty Limited (commonly referred to as Optus) is an Australian telecommunications company headquartered in Macquarie Park, New South Wales, Australia. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Singaporean telecommunications company Singte ...
and 32.15% of
Bharti Airtel
Bharti Airtel Limited, commonly known as (d/b/a) Airtel, is an Indian multinational telecommunications services company based in New Delhi. It operates in 18 countries across South Asia and Africa, as well as the Channel Islands. Currently, ...
, the second largest carrier in
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
.
Singtel controls significant market share in Australia and Singapore, with 82% of the fixed-line market, 47% of the mobile market and 43% of the broadband market in Singapore. Singtel is also the second-largest company by market capitalisation listed on the
Singapore Exchange
The Singapore Exchange Limited (SGX) is a Singaporean investment holding company that provides different services related to securities and derivatives trading and others. SGX is also a member of the World Federation of Exchanges and the Asian ...
and is majority owned by
Temasek Holdings
Temasek Holdings (Private) Limited, or simply Temasek, is a Singaporean state holding company owned by the Government of Singapore. Incorporated on 25 June 1974, Temasek owns and manages a total of US$496.59 billion (S$671 billion) in assets u ...
, the investment arm of the Singapore government. Singtel is an active investor in innovation companies through its Singtel Innov8 subsidiary, founded in 2011 with start up capital.
History
1800s
*1883: Singapore's phone network was operated by the
Oriental Telephone and Electric Company
The Oriental Telephone Company was established on January 25, 1881, as the result of an agreement between Thomas Edison, Alexander Graham Bell, the Oriental Bell Telephone Company of New York and the Anglo-Indian Telephone Company, Ltd. The compan ...
(OTEC). The Public Telephone Exchange set up 60 telephone lines connecting local businesses of that era.
1900s
*1907: OTEC was replaced by a new Central Telephone Exchange in Hill Street
*1955: The Singapore Telephone Board (STB) is incorporated as a statutory board with exclusive rights to operate telephone service within Singapore.
*1974: Merger of STB and Telecommunications Authority of Singapore (TAS). Before 1974, STB was responsible for local services, while TAS provided international services.
*1982: Merger of the Postal Department with Telecoms.
*1992: SingTel is incorporated in March (as Telecommunications Equipment) and became a public company in October 1993.
*1992: SingTel introduces the call zone service, made defunct in 1997.
*1997 Singtel was compensated $1.5 billion by the Singaporean Government for early termination of its monopoly, based on projected earnings lost between 2000 and 2007 due to its loss of monopoly.
2000s
* In 2000, Singtel lost its domestic monopoly in Singapore, with the government deregulating the telecommunications industry.
*2001: SingTel is awarded a 3G licence in April.
*In March 2001, Singtel purchased Optus for between $7.4 billion to $8.5 billion
*2003: SingTel sells 60% of Singapore Post (SingPost) in May during an
IPO
An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investment ...
in an effort to focus on its core telecommunications services business.
*2003: SingTel divested its stakes in Yellow Pages in June, its directory business to CVC Asia Pacific and J.P. Morgan Partners Asia for .
*2003: SingTel announced that it has appointed Ericsson as the vendor for its 3G network in Singapore in July.
*2005: SingTel launches its commercial 3G services in February.
*2007:
mio TV
Singtel TV (formerly known as Singtel IPTV and mio TV) is a pay television, pay television service provided by Singtel in Singapore. It is transmitted through Singtel's broadband network via an IPTV platform which uses Ericsson Mediaroom (orig ...
was launched commercially on 20 July 2007 and began its services on 21 July 2007.
*2007: SingTel Generation mio was launched commercially on 9 January 2007 and began its services on 21 January 2007
* 2008: SingTel and Apple jointly announced that SingTel will be the first mobile operator to launch the
iPhone 3G
The iPhone 3G (also known as iPhone 2) is a smartphone that was designed and marketed by Apple Inc.; it is the second generation of iPhone, successor to the original iPhone, and was introduced on June 9, 2008, at the WWDC 2008 at the Mosco ...
and its services to Singapore in June.
* In the month of June, SingTel becomes the title sponsor of the inaugural
Singapore Grand Prix
The Singapore Grand Prix; ta, சிங்கப்பூர் கிராண்ட் பிரிக்ஸ் is a motor racing event which forms part of the Formula One World Championship. The event takes place on the Marina Bay Street Cir ...
in Singapore.
* On 10 July 2009, SingTel launched the
iPhone 3GS commercially in Singapore.
2011–2014
![Singtel tower](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dd/Singtel_tower.jpg)
* In May 2011, SingTel announced that they will be aiming to double the size of its satellite business, with two additional launches by 2013.
* In November 2011, SingTel launched Singapore's first
e-book
An ebook (short for electronic book), also known as an e-book or eBook, is a book publication made available in digital form, consisting of text, images, or both, readable on the flat-panel display of computers or other electronic devices. Alt ...
provider, Skoob, which was available through the web,
iOS
iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also include ...
or
Android.
* 2012: SingTel acquired mobile advertising technology company Amobee in March 2012 for $321 million.
*2012: SingTel secured broadcast rights for the
2012 Summer Olympics
The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
and provided 15 new
ESPN STAR Sports
Fox Sports (formerly ESPN Star Sports) was a pan-Asian pay television network broadcasting in Asia, operated by Fox Networks Group Asia Pacific, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company (Southeast Asia) Pte. Ltd. It also oversaw a version of Sta ...
channels free of charge to its
mio TV
Singtel TV (formerly known as Singtel IPTV and mio TV) is a pay television, pay television service provided by Singtel in Singapore. It is transmitted through Singtel's broadband network via an IPTV platform which uses Ericsson Mediaroom (orig ...
Services.
* 2012: Singtel was fined $300,000 for breaches of the Service Resiliency Code by the IDA.
* Since December 2012, SingTel started providing 4G LTE services across Singapore.
* Since 1 August 2013, mio TV was officially renamed SingTel TV.
* In 2013 SingTel announced the sale of its entire 30% stake in Warid Telecom (Private) Limited to Warid Telecom Pakistan LLC which took place on 15 March 2013
* In 2013 SingTel was fined $180,000 for the disruption of its
mio TV
Singtel TV (formerly known as Singtel IPTV and mio TV) is a pay television, pay television service provided by Singtel in Singapore. It is transmitted through Singtel's broadband network via an IPTV platform which uses Ericsson Mediaroom (orig ...
service where 115,000 subscribers were affected while watching the Premier League games. The problems included screen freezing, blurred images and picture distortion that happened on 13 May 2012 from 10:15 pm. Full service quality was resumed at 12:15 am the next day.
* In late 2013, Singtel shutdown its Skoob e-book store.
* In 2014 SingTel was fined $6 million for its Bukit Panjang fire in the previous year. This is the highest fine imposed on a telco in Singapore.
* In August 2014, SingTel announced it was joining forces with five other global companies, including Google, to build a super-fast undersea data cable linking the U.S. and Japan.
* In 2014 Bharati Airtel became first telecommunication company to serve 4G internet in India.
2015–2019
* On 21 January 2015, Singtel launched its new brand identity, the first in 16 years.
* On 19 March 2015, Singtel dismissed all connections with social media agency,
Gushcloud. This is after a Singapore blogger
Xiaxue
Cheng Yan Yan Wendy (born Cheng Yan Yan; 28 April 1984), better known by her pseudonym Xiaxue, is a Singaporean blogger and online television personality who writes about her life, fashion and local issues in a provocative style. Her main blog ...
, exposed Gushcloud's brief to its "influencers" to execute a negative campaign on
M1 and
Starhub
StarHub Limited, most commonly known as just Starhub, is a Singaporean multinational telecommunications conglomerate and one of the major telcos operating in the country. Founded in 1998, it is listed on the Singapore Exchange (SGX).
History ...
, both who are direct competitors. Singtel apologised to both companies for the campaign.
* On 7 April 2015, Singtel revealed it would be acquiring US cyber security firm
Trustwave
Trustwave Holdings is an American
standalone business unit cybersecurity independent subsidiary and brand of multinational telecommunications company Singtel Group Enterprise. It focuses on providing managed detection and response (MDR), managed ...
for $810 million, its largest ever acquisition outside the telecoms sector.
* On 22 April 2015, the Singtel announced plans to delist from the
Australian Securities Exchange
Australian Securities Exchange Ltd or ASX, is an Australian public company that operates Australia's primary securities exchange, the Australian Securities Exchange (sometimes referred to outside of Australia as, or confused within Australia as ...
due to low trading volumes.
* In April 2015, Singtel released a new
Skype
Skype () is a proprietary telecommunications application operated by Skype Technologies, a division of Microsoft, best known for VoIP-based videotelephony, videoconferencing and voice calls. It also has instant messaging, file transfer, deb ...
and
WhatsApp
WhatsApp (also called WhatsApp Messenger) is an internationally available freeware, cross-platform, centralized instant messaging (IM) and voice-over-IP (VoIP) service owned by American company Meta Platforms (formerly Facebook). It allows us ...
competitor called Wavee. It allows users to make voice and video calls and send instant messages.
* In May 2015, Singtel was issued a 'stern warning' by
Infocomm Development Authority (IDA) for a negative marketing campaign against its competitors:
M1 Limited
M1 Limited (commonly known as M1; formerly MobileOne) is a Singaporean telecommunications company and one of the major telcos operating in the country. M1 was founded in 1994 and traded on the Singapore Exchange from 2002 to 2019. M1 is a subsi ...
and
Starhub
StarHub Limited, most commonly known as just Starhub, is a Singaporean multinational telecommunications conglomerate and one of the major telcos operating in the country. Founded in 1998, it is listed on the Singapore Exchange (SGX).
History ...
through a marketing agency, Gushcloud. Singtel was required to "ensure appropriate management oversight and control over its marketing and advertising campaigns".
* On 11 April 2017, it was reported that
Synack had raised $21 million from
Microsoft Ventures
M12, formerly Microsoft Ventures, is a corporate venture capital subsidiary of Microsoft. Founded in March 2016, its mission is to be an active, strategic partner during a startup's growth, typically investing between Series A and D. The fund is ...
,
Hewlett Packard Enterprise
The Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company (HPE) is an American multinational information technology company based in Spring, Texas, United States.
HPE was founded on November 1, 2015, in Palo Alto, California, as part of the splitting of the ...
, and Singtel.
* On 18 January 2019, Singtel was listed in the Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index (GEI) for the first time in recognition of
gender equality
Gender equality, also known as sexual equality or equality of the sexes, is the state of equal ease of access to resources and opportunities regardless of gender, including economic participation and decision-making; and the state of valuing d ...
.
2020–present
* On March 2020, Singtel announced a USD 30 million investment in a new joint venture by Singtel, Thai Telc
AISand South Korea's
SK Telecom
SK Telecom Co., Ltd. ( or ) is a South Korean wireless telecommunications operator and former film distributor and is part of the SK Group, one of the country's largest chaebols. It leads the local market with 50.5 percent share as of 2008. ...
in a gaming company calle
Storms
* On 1 October 2020, Singtel announced the appointment of Yuen Kuan Moon as group CEO to replace current chief
Chua Sock Koong after her retirement in January 2021.
*On 4 December 2020, it was announced that the Singtel and ride-hailing firm Grab consortium had been awarded a
digital banking
Digital banking is part of the broader context for the move to online banking, where banking services are delivered over the internet. The shift from traditional to digital banking has been gradual and remains ongoing, and is constituted by diffe ...
licence and would start operating in 2022.
*On 10 June 2022, three employees of Amobee's email marketing division were convicted of federal crimes related to illegally spamming through hijacked IP addresses.
Network and infrastructure
Singtel's international submarine cable network provides connections from Singapore to more than 100 countries. It is a major investor in many of the world's submarine cable systems, such as
South-East Asia – Middle East – Western Europe 3 Cable Network,
South-East Asia – Middle East – Western Europe 4 Cable Network,
APCN 2
APCN 2 or Asia-Pacific Cable Network 2 is a submarine telecommunications cable linking several countries in the Asia-Pacific region.
It has landing points in:
* Chongming, Shanghai, China
* Shantou, Guangdong Province, China
*Lantau Island, ...
, China-US, Japan-US,
Southern Cross Cable
The Southern Cross Cable is a trans-Pacific network of telecommunications cables commissioned in 2000. The network is operated by the Bermuda-registered company ''Southern Cross Cables Limited''.
The network has 28,900 km of submarine an ...
and
Unity (cable system)
Unity is a Trans-Pacific submarine communications cable between Japan and the United States that was completed in April 2010.
Unity comprises a 10,000 km linear cable system with a "multi-terabit" capacity of up to 7.68 Tbit/s. Construction ...
. Unity Cable Network was commissioned in March 2010.
In January 2010, Singtel announced it had signed an agreement to join a consortium to build and operate the new
SJC (cable system) system (SJC). The construction of the SJC cable system started in April 2011 and became operational in June 2013. The SJC has a length of 8,900 km which could extend up to 9,700 km linking up to seven countries or territories. The SJC is connected with the Unity Cable Network and is designed to deliver the lowest latency connectivity between Asia and the US, specifically from Singapore to Los Angeles.
As of fourth quarter of 2014, Singtel Mobile's 4G outdoor coverage was at 99.41%, ranked first followed by M1's 99.04%, and Starhub's 98.85%.
Singtel signed a partnership with NETSTARS, (a Tokyo-based mobile payment technology company) in March 2019. This will allow travelers to use their home mobile wallets on Singtel's VIA network to pay digitally at stores in Japan.
Singtel Mobile Network in Singapore
Key operating companies
The Singtel group of companies includes subsidiaries, associated companies, as well as shareholdings in overseas entities. Its mainstay is in the mobile phone industry, where it has a total subscription base of 638 million as of 31 March 2017:
Regional mobile subsidiaries
Mobile
* Singtel Mobile Singapore Pte Ltd – operation and provision of cellular mobile telecommunications systems and services, resale of fixed line and broadband services
*
Optus Mobile Pty Limited – provision of mobile phone services
**
Virgin Mobile (Australia) Pty Limited – provision of mobile phone services, wholly own subsidiary of Optus
ICT
*
NCS – provision of information technology and consultancy services
*
Alphawest – provision of information technology services
*
Uecomm – provision of data communication services
Digital
* Amobee – provision of mobile advertising
* Pixable – provision of mobile photo search and aggregation services
* DataSpark – provision of big data geolocation analytics
* Singtel Digital Media Pte Ltd (STDM) – development and management of on-line internet portal
* Singtel Idea Factory Pte Ltd – engaging in research and development, products and services development and business partnership
* Singtel Innov8 Pte Ltd – venture capital investment holding
Internet and TV
* SingNet – provision of internet access and pay television services
* Optus Broadband Pty Limited – provision of high speed residential internet service
* Optus Vision Pty Limited – provision of interactive television service
* Optus Internet Pty Limited – provision of internet services to retail customers
* Vividwireless Group Limited – provision of wireless broadband services
Associate of the group
* Singapore Post Limited – operation and provision of postal and logistics services
* Telescience Singapore Pte Ltd – sale, distribution and installation of telecommunications equipment
* Viewers Choice Pte Ltd – provision of services relating to motor vehicle rental and retail of general merchandise
Incidents
Bukit Panjang Exchange fire
![2013 Bukit Panjang Internet Exchange fire affected areas](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/63/2013_Bukit_Panjang_Internet_Exchange_fire_affected_areas.svg)
On 9 October 2013, a fire incident broke out at one of Singtel's major Internet exchanges at
Bukit Panjang
Bukit Panjang is a planning area and residential town located in the West Region of Singapore. A portion of this town is situated on a low-lying elongated hill. The planning area is bounded by Bukit Batok to the west, Choa Chu Kang to the no ...
.
The fire started at around 2 p.m. Firemen from the
Singapore Civil Defence Force
The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) is an uniformed organisation in Singapore under the Ministry of Home Affairs that provides emergency services such as firefighting, technical rescue, and emergency medical services, and coordinates nati ...
(SCDF) responded to the emergency call placed at 2.16pm and extinguished the fires in 20 minutes.
After SCDF had cleared the building for access at 6pm, Singtel started repairing the damaged cable infrastructure.
The repairs was initially assessed to be done by 10 October 2013, 7am with 33 cables of fibre strands requiring repairs. However, the repairs was slower than expected as it was difficult to identify the affected cables as visual indicators such as colour coding on the cables were rendered unusable and 116 other fibre cables required repairs as well.
Connectivity to affected customers was progressively restored as the repairs stretched into the evening.
The damage incurred extensive connectivity issues in the
North Western areas of Singapore, particularly in Bukit Batok, Bukit Panjang, Bukit Timah, Choa Chu Kang, Kranji, Marsiling, Teck Whye and Woodlands. Singtel reported 100 mobile base stations were affected, disconnecting its mobile service subscribers in the area.
It also reported that around 60,000 fixed broadband lines, 46,000 mioTV subscribers, and 30,000 voice lines were also affected.
OpenNet also reported that 81 of its fibre cables were damaged, affecting 46,000 fibre connections downstream.
Business such as
StarHub
StarHub Limited, most commonly known as just Starhub, is a Singaporean multinational telecommunications conglomerate and one of the major telcos operating in the country. Founded in 1998, it is listed on the Singapore Exchange (SGX).
History ...
,
M1,
DBS, OpenNet and
Singapore Pools
Singapore Pools (Private) Limited is a state-owned lottery subsidiary company in Singapore. As a wholly owned subsidiary of the Tote Board, it is the only operator that is legally allowed to run lotteries in Singapore.
History
Singapore Pools wa ...
saw varying levels of disruptions to their services and operations islandwide.
The cables were reconnected on 11 October 2013. However, there were still some subscribers whose connectivity services were still disrupted as of 16 October 2013. StarHub indicated that some of the repaired OpenNet cables, which it relied on to carry its fibre internet services, were not connected properly.
Likewise, Singtel reported that several cables required further rectification works. Both offered alternate connectivity solutions to the affected subscribers as a temporary measure while further work took place, with StarHub sending cable modems to its affected subscribers to connect to its then existing coaxial cable network (which could carry Internet services, and was put to an end in June 2019),
and Singtel sending mobile broadband dongles. Singtel also announced compensation packages to its affected subscribers of its various services.
Singtel had set up a Board Committee of Inquiry (BCOI) to investigate the fire. Additionally, the BCOI would also benchmark current network design and contingency processes against international best practices and standards, and recommend appropriate improvements to prevent future occurrences and strengthen network resilience. Separately, IDA had launched an investigation into the fire as well. Questions were raised in the public on the infrastructure design of the telecommunications network.
The fire exposed the fact that Bukit Panjang exchange was a single point of failure as connectivity services of 3 major ISPs were affected due to it, with the affected OpenNet fibre cables affecting a wide area across the nation.
Preliminary findings realised by Singtel on 6 November 2013 indicated that the fire broke out during a maintenance work at one of the lead-in pipes located in the cable chamber. The fire was caused by an employee not following the maintenance procedures as well as the use of an unauthorised blowtorch.
Maintenance protocols had since strengthened, limiting maintenance work which required heat to be applied and reinforcing training on safety requirements and operations.
The BCOI report, dated 9 December 2013, was released on 17 December 2013.
The report covered three main areas: fire prevention in exchanges, network reliability and resiliency, as well as public relations and communications.
Singtel's board has accepted the BCOI's findings and would implement its recommendations.
In Singtel's 2015 annual report, it was reported that the BCOI was satisfied that all the recommendations of the BCOI had been followed up and adequately addressed.
Singtel was later fined $6 million Singapore dollars for the fire incident, it is the largest fine for a telco company in Singapore history. National fibre broadband network builder OpenNet and CityNet - the trustee manager of a Singtel unit that owns OpenNet - have also been fined $200,000 and $300,000, respectively, for failing to comply with safety procedures and restore services promptly.
Gushcloud marketing scandal
On 14 March 2015,
Xiaxue
Cheng Yan Yan Wendy (born Cheng Yan Yan; 28 April 1984), better known by her pseudonym Xiaxue, is a Singaporean blogger and online television personality who writes about her life, fashion and local issues in a provocative style. Her main blog ...
, a Singapore-based blogger, revealed on her blog instructions from
Gushcloud to its network of bloggers to post complaints about the mobile services of Singtel's rivalling mobile service providers,
StarHub
StarHub Limited, most commonly known as just Starhub, is a Singaporean multinational telecommunications conglomerate and one of the major telcos operating in the country. Founded in 1998, it is listed on the Singapore Exchange (SGX).
History ...
and
M1, on social media, in a marketing effort to drive subscriptions of a new mobile service plan targeted at youths by Singtel.
Along with her revelation, there were many samples of Gushcloud's bloggers taking up the offer and posting complaints up on social media services.
Upon the release of the complaints, both Starhub and M1 called on IDA to investigate the matter.
Initially denying that it had issued the brief, Singtel issued an apology, of which Starhub and M1 had accepted. Singtel also terminated its employee who had worked with Gushcloud on the campaign as the employee did not adhere to Singtel's professional standards and values.
At the same time, Singtel ended its relationship with Gushcloud.
Vincent Ha, Gushcloud's chief executive, released an apology through the firm on the firm's use of negative messaging and yet criticising Xiaxue's expose for "doing more harm than good to our industry".
Xiaxue refuted the statement, saying he was trying to divert blame and calling Gushcloud's actions as "not ethical".
Several bloggers involved issued apologies on their platforms as well.
Data breach incident
On 12 February 2020, Singtel was fined $9,000 Singapore dollars for a data breach incident involving the My Singtel mobile app, a smartphone application owned by Singtel. The incident began from Singtel encountering a technical issue during its migration to a new billing system in early 2018, resulting in the personal data of 750 mobile subscribers being exposed. Of these, 39 subscribers' personal data were in fact accessed by other subscribers over a period of about 11 hours.
Assistant manager leaking client data and thieving
Pleo Sherwin Cubos was an assistant manager at Singtel earning around $5000 Singapore dollar income, he borrowed $500 Singapore dollars in January 2020 from an unlicensed moneylender after seeing an advertisement for illegal loans on Facebook ads. Cubos later obtained more loans when he couldn't resolve his debt problems, his debt also continued to increase and he was unable to pay the debt, Cubos begin to receive loan shark harassment.
Cubos' debtor, Alan, later offered Cubos to stop loan shark harassment on him if he could access Singtel's internal data system (CRM) and using the given information to find and sharing the borrower's data with Alan. Alan gave Cubos a list of identity card numbers and phone numbers of his borrower for Cubos to find the client's data in the CRM. Between 20 February 2020 to 25 April 2020, Cubos unauthorized screenshotted 27 client's data on the CRM and sent 6 client's data to Alan.
In March and April 2020, Cubos sold a total of 3 iPads that belong to Singtel for at least $250 Singapore dollars and spent the money on his personal expenses.
Cubos' supervisor later discovered his offences and filed a police report on 2 May 2020. Cubos was then charged and pleaded guilty to one count each of assisting a loan shark and criminal breach of trust charge on 30 December 2020. He was sentenced to imprisonment for 3 months 3 weeks and fined $30,000 Singapore dollars.
Retail consultant selling client data
Kelvin Foo Cheek Ann was a retail consultant at the Singtel outlet in Parkway Parade. Between 2014 and July 2017, he obtained Singtel's client data from Singtel's system without authorization and sold the data to his acquaintance, Lee Cheng Yan, as requested. Lee offered him $20 Singapore dollars for each mobile number checked on the system. All clients whose data sold were later received harassment calls, messages, and strangers appearing at their homes and demanding money.
Foo took a total of $180 Singapore dollars of bribes from Lee. Foo pleaded guilty to 1 charge of corruption, 5 charges of unauthorized access to Singtel's system, and 10 charges were taken into consideration during sentencing.
Zero-day attack
On 11 February 2021, Singtel issued a statement admitting the company was attacked by hackers using
Zero-day attack
A zero-day (also known as a 0-day) is a computer-software vulnerability previously unknown to those who should be interested in its mitigation, like the vendor of the target software. Until the vulnerability is mitigated, hackers can exploit ...
which resulted in a data breach. Singtel CEO Yuen Kuan Moon issued a public apology regarding the incident, which was caused by a vulnerability in an Accellion file-sharing system used by Singtel. Accellion issued its first alert of the exploits in December 2020, Singtel then applied a series of patches provided by Accellion to resolve the vulnerability. On 23 January 2021, Accellion stated that a new vulnerability had emerged and patches previously applied in December 2020 are ineffective. Singtel immediately took its system offline since. Singtel's attempt to patch the new vulnerability in the FTA system on 30 January 2021 triggered an anomaly alert, and Accellion later informed that the system might have been breached. Singtel's investigations later confirmed the system was breached and identified 20 January 2021 as the occurrence day.
Amobee executives plead guilty to hijacking IP addresses in order to send illegal spam
On 10 June 2022, three employees of the affiliate marketing platform Amobee pleaded guilty in federal court to hijacking Internet Protocol (IP) addresses to send unsolicited commercial email messages, commonly known as “spam.”
References
External links
Official websiteSingtel Global OfficesSingtel Innov8
{{Authority control
Telecommunications companies established in 1879
Companies listed on the Singapore Exchange
Government-owned companies of Singapore
Internet in Singapore
Internet service providers of Singapore
Mobile phone companies of Singapore
Multinational companies headquartered in Singapore
International information technology consulting firms
Singaporean brands
Telecommunications companies of Singapore
Temasek Holdings
1879 establishments in Singapore