May 26, 01:05 AM 
514 Chai Chee Lane 03-16, Singapore 469029 If you aren't living under a rock, you would have heard of MyRepublic.
It is currently an Internet Service Provider in Singapore but it has made a much-publicised bid to become the fourth telco with the intention of breaking a decade-long three company oligopoly -- an unholy alliance made up of Singtel, StarHub and M1.
MyRepublic first came into existence in late 2011, and they have been experiencing miraculous figures: Some 300 percent year-on-year customer growth.
And its CEO is a tough-talking man. And he is Malcolm Rodrigues.
In a recent interview with e27 on May 23, 2015, Rodrigues spoke about how MyRepublic is planning on revolutionising mobile Internet for the regular consumer on the street, as well as how his company's plan to go from underdog to legit player in the telecommunications field by severely disrupting the industry is making the big boys nervous.
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However, what was most gratifying about his interview was reading the portion where he articulated the exact thoughts that was on the minds of many consumers in Singapore: What did we mortals do to deserve the sudden precipitous drop in data plan caps from 12GB to 2GB overnight?
From e27:
As for what kind of response he expects from the current telcos regarding his plan, Rodrigues says, “I think they (the incumbents) are nervous, about the impact of a fourth operator, not just us but any fourth operator. Everything has just been so steady for a while.”
“I expect that if a fourth telco licence is announced, they won’t wait, they will start to lock people’s contracts. The good thing is that you will see 2GB data caps go to 5GB data caps,” Rodrigues adds.
“I bet you a day after the government says, ‘Here is the plan for a fourth telco’, data caps will go up in an attempt to diffuse the situation. I think what they don’t realise is that when they go from 12GB to 2GB, they will piss off so many people,” he predicts.
“I think the incumbents have become arrogant in their approach historically and I think they have burned bridges with a lot of their customers,” Rodrigues says, not one to mince his words, “We are confident that a fourth telco licence will be made available. We are confident that if the IDA has put the right conditions in place. We will bid and we will win,” he adds.
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If what Rodrigues says has some element of truth, then things are bound to be interesting in the future as and when the fourth telco becomes a thing and provides a good shake up.
As stated in the e27 piece, if their telco bid goes through, MyRepublic is reportedly eyeing a 10 to 12 percent market share.
And as consumers in Singapore, it is sobering to note that we are suckers who have been paying so much more than customers overseas for mobile Internet speeds that are not even as fast:
In 2013, an Akamai study showed Singapore as having the 19th fastest Internet speed in the world, with an average connection speed of 7.9 Mbps but the same study in 2014 showed Singapore had leapt up the rankings to number nine, beating out such countries as the US and Britain.
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Another Akamai report shows that as far as mobile Internet speed goes, Singapore is not ranked anywhere near the top with countries like Japan, Kuwait and even Thailand besting the city-state for maximum mobile Internet speed.
“If you ever want to invest money, invest in Singapore telcos. The customers in Singapore also pay the highest, so I think from a mobile standpoint, we are a long way away,” he adds, believing that this is something we desperately need to change.
You can read the full interview on e27.
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