Singapore's fourth mobile operator launches with plans for the data-hungry

SINGAPORE — It's been 14 years since Singapore saw a new mobile operator try to break into the three-ring circle of telecom companies here, but we now have a fourth choice for smartphone plans.

On Thursday, a new operator called Circles.Life launched. Unlike the three telcos we have now, SingTel, Starhub and M1, Circles.Life is an MVNO (mobile virtual network operator), and doesn't own network infrastructure outright. Instead, it leases network capacity from the smallest telco on the island, M1.

Because Circles.Life hadn't had to deal with the costly and lengthy process of building out network infrastructure, it's burst onto the market promising to undercut the competition — likely a very attractive proposition for the data-hungry crowd. Read more...