IMDA reviewing resilience regulations in wake of Singtel disruptions

[SINGAPORE] The Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) is currently reviewing the telcos service resilience regulations following the various network failures by Singtel in March, said the Minister for Digital Development and Information Josephine Teo.

Teo noted that the Singapore government “will not hesitate to take strong regulatory action” should any lapses be found following the investigation.

“Thus far, there is no evidence that the incidents were due to cyberattacks,” Teo said in response to parliamentary queries on Tuesday (Apr 7).

However, she noted that the IMDA does not rule out that the three incidents were “related in some way”.

Teo said that under current regulations, it is mandatory for stress testing and simulation of failover systems under peak or adverse conditions to take place.

That said, the investigation might uncover parts of the system where the stress testing might have been overlooked, she explained.

“(The findings of the investigation) will then inform our understanding of the extent to which we need to then strengthen the regulations and put in place the right set of obligations and expectations,” she said.

Compensation for affected customers

The recent Singtel compensation to customers – following a string of service disruption – is out of the telco operator’s “own volition”, driven by market competition, said Teo, noting that across the world, no country requires telco providers to compensate users following a service disruption.

In March, Singtel had three network failures that impacted hundreds of thousands of users. Most notably, a nine-hour outage on Mar 16 left approximately 600,000 users without mobile service.

Singtel on Mar 31 announced that it will give affected users a “goodwill rebate”, which can be used to offset the customer’s bill within the next one to two billing cycles.

Users impacted by the disruption reported receiving a sum of S$5 or S$10, depending on their mobile plans.

Teo noted that even though the United Kingdom and Germany do require compensation for service disruptions, the scope of the compensation only covers the loss of service for broadband and landline.

Based on this definition, Singtel users would not qualify for compensation, she said.

Instead, she pointed out, Singapore relies on the highly competitive nature of the telco market to maintain consumer goodwill and prevent customer churn.

In the case of Singtel, the company decided that the extent of its disruption was large, and the company would offer a one-time rebate as part of their service recovery, she added.

“This was done on Singtel’s own volition,” Teo said.